a thousand polluted stars shining upon our heads
by solicitors
Summary: you never really know how fucked you are until you so happen to be enrolled into an all boys school, your name is suddenly matt, and your roommate is star baseball player lucas friar who never wears pants — lucas/maya AU
1. the part where maya is super fucked

**kinda based off she's the man. here's the gist: maya gets accepted into a school. actually, it's an all boys school so she has to go under the name matthew. yall get the gist. anyway this Could change to M... later... maybe**

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In all of her seventeen years of life, she wasn't so sure she had heard anything so utterly absurd. Sure, her best friend had a few screws knocked loose, that was common knowledge for anybody in the near vicinity of her. She was quite different, of course, which is what made her unique. But the words streaming out of her cherry lips were certainly ones that made her want to lock her best friend in a janitors closet and leave her there for a week.

Granted, she should have expected this. You could always be mistaken for her soft demeanor, she was sweet and kind in nature, of course. But she was also aggressive and cruel if anything came between her and her friends, that friend being _her_. And the thought of what she was suggesting was so odd, that it almost made her giggle—given that she doesn't giggle. So we can assume that it was pretty absurd.

Sure, the blonde wasn't exactly some scholarly hero to her student body. And the thought of her being accepted into some prestigious academy was already ridiculous in itself, granted the fact that you had to have high citizenship (which she lacked) and high grade point average (which she also lacked). They seemingly looked past all of her rough edges and went straight to the core, she was _damn_ good at art.

And according to the schools website, that was just enough to get her accepted into some prestigious academy all the way across the other side of the state. Elizabeth Academy, or whatever you will. She most definitely preferred to call it Barf Academy for Utter Losers, but her best friend deemed the name much too inappropriate if she was going to accept her "destiny" there. Her best friend's words, not hers.

But her best friend had to push her into this school, just like she had pushed her into everything else. Given the common knowledge that she hated being pushed, but she also enjoyed letting her best friend be happy. (And there was always the problem: Elizabeth Academy was an all boys school.)

(How did they even accept her was a blank canvas to her. According to the admission form they had sent to her not-so-homely-abode, they thought her name was Matthew and had seen her art around and about and it was just going to get _odd_.)

But her best friend never gave up on anything, even for the fact that she had been accepted into an all boys school, not an all girls school or even a co-ed school, which apparently lacked funds all those years ago and shut down. (Also, why would they name an all boys school Elizabeth Academy—seemed kind of contradictory in itself.)

So yeah, she could hear her familiar best friend ramble on about the opportunities the school would give her and such. More like, "Oh, come _on_ Maya! Who freaking cares if you have to act male for an entire year? I mean, it's just a school and this school will open your eyes up to new art techniques and such and it will be so great and—"

She wasn't so sure she had heard her best friend taken a breath in at least five minutes. But whatever, she was determined that she wasn't going to condone into peer pressure into dressing and acting like a male to get into some school for the entirety of her senior year at high school. Things were only doomed to go downhill and she wasn't going to be pressured. Nope, nada.

(She somehow knew that she was lying to herself.)

/

Which was only proved true the week after Riley's little lack of breathing session when Maya was uncomfortably pulling at the bandage wrapped around her breast and poking at her hair that was sitting in a sweaty wig. Her stature and height was much too short for a male, but Riley seemed to push down her fears until they were standing at some huge school that had boys bustling around and about and Maya couldn't believe she had actually conformed to what her best friend was suggesting.

She was going to act and be a boy for the rest of her senior year.

Her best friend clasped her hands together in an excited matter and bumped her hips with hers (or his) and smiled. "See, this isn't so bad Maya," Riley hiccuped excitedly. "—or Matthew, if you will. Come on, it can't be that bad!"

Maya's lack of strength greatly prohibited the use of carrying her bags and she solemnly let them plop to the floor. Her arms crossed in front of her now flat chest and she turned to her best friend who was looking in the distance in an excited matter. "This is so extremely stupid. Let's just walk away while we have the chance and from there on out, nothing we did would have been illegal," the blonde whined, kicking her suitcase lightly.

"You are such a baby," Riley prompted with a mischievous smile, picking up her best friends dropped suitcases off of the ground. "The Maya I know and love would have _loved_ this idea. Come on, it's basically one year. Things can't go that wrong."

And that's where she knew she was wrong. Things were not going to pan out, she figured. She was dressed as a boy when she certainly never _wanted_ to be, she was going to be separated from her best friend for a year, the bandage around her boobs was starting to make her sweat, and this damned wig was really fucking itchy! She didn't really understand how she could be living under these conditions for a whole nine months, that is if she didn't have to stay over the summer like most of the students decided to do according to the website.

She was fucked.

But before she could mutter out a few obscene sayings to her best friend, she felt her back being pushed slightly to where she met a chocolate gaze and suddenly she felt her knees going weak. If this was her reaction to meeting any attractive male at this godforsaken school, then god only knows how long she would last.

Behind her, she could hear her best friend giggling to herself. "Bye Matthew!"

"So you're Matthew Hart, the new art arrival?" the male asked. He was tall, sure. He had dark skin and curly hair and his smile literally made her knees buckle. But she _had_ to get a hold of herself or she wouldn't last a week. And it totally seemed that his uniform fit him _much_ better than hers did.

She nodded her head and took out her hand for him to shake. When she saw his curious gaze, she quickly withdrew it and shook her head and sighed. This was going to be difficult. "That would be me," she confirmed, noticing her lack of deepness in her voice. She had to fix that. "I mean—" she coughed dramatically "—that would be _me_ ," she repeated, lowering her voice a few octaves to try to sell the deal that she was male.

She couldn't be figured out only one day in!

"Right..." he looked at her curiously. "I'm Zay, I'll be your guide for today. Just ask me anything, and I'm sure I have the answer. I'll be giving you a tour of the cafeteria, courtyard, library, and lead you up to your room. Your schedule should be here later today, and then your roommate should help you with that."

"Sounds good," she said, once more dropping her voice a few octaves to confirm her apparent masculinity. She finished the sentence off with a quick, "Bro."

His eyebrows raised curiously and he shook his head, walking away swiftly from the scene they were encountering. She had left her bags there for one of the butlers to take care of and basically ran behind him, her short legs were no match for his longer ones. "You're pretty short, you know," Zay stated nonchalantly, attempting to engage in small conversation.

"Thanks," Maya responded sarcastically, running at nearly full speed.

"Not in a bad way, of course," Zay rebounded quickly, giving the small girl an apologetic smile. (To him, he saw some awkward prepubescent boy that had yet to grow any facial hair.) "I'm sure you'll go through your growth spurt soon."

Maya was about to respond with a witty comment but remembered that she _was_ supposed to be male. She had to get used to this.

"Right, anyway," Zay prompted, leading her through two white doors. "Right here is the cafeteria." Maya's eyes widened as she saw the menu, filled with things she couldn't even think of eating only a month ago. Granted, a month ago she never thought she was going to pretend to be male to enter into some prestigious boy school. But whatever, there's always surprises.

He proceeded to show her around the school, leading her through halls and classrooms for a quick and short tour. The courtyard was gigantic, actually having a tennis court and swimming pool in the back. They also had a swimming pool in the school for the winter, and then he led her to the library which held thousands upon thousands of books stacked on numerous amounts of bookshelves. This was one gigantic and prestigious school, and Maya wasn't so sure she belonged here. (Well, she _knew_ that with the fact she was a girl.)

"Well, that's it," Zay concluded. "I'm sure that your roommate would be willing to help you with any other concerns you have. What's your dorm number, anyway?"

Maya fumbled with her keys for a second before searching all of her pockets until she found the slip of paper she was looking for. She squinted her eyes slightly so she could read the small writing. "Um, it says tower 4, hall C, room 12. So I guess that means I'm in 4C12."

The taller boy whistled softly and shook his head. "You're with Lucas," he chuckled, shaking his head. "Yeah, there's a reason why you were let in last moment. The last roommate of Lucas bailed the moment he tried living with him. He's kind of a disaster, you know?"

Well, Maya thought to herself, I'm not like every other boy. (Considering the fact that she was a _girl_ but whatever.) "I mean, I'm sure he's not a problem," Maya shrugged, wanting to yank her hair out with the mess of the itchy wig she was in. "I can take him."

"Yeah, you'd like to wish," Zay muttered, shaking his head and leading her out of the library to take her to her dorm 4C12. "Dude's got some pretty serious problems. He's also kind of a big deal in this school, like the "it" dude or whatever. He kind of gets away with everything, you know, and brings home girls to do his shit with or whatever."

"Womanizer?" she asked.

Zay shrugged, proceeding to hit the elevator button to go up to hall C. Once the elevator opened, Maya followed him as he clicked the letter and waited for the doors to close. "You could say that. He's also kind of a slob." And then Zay laughed to himself. "But that's basically it, you know? He's my best bud too."

"You seem to speak highly of your best friend," Maya muttered sarcastically through her teeth.

Zay shook his head and smiled. "You wouldn't really get it, you see. When you meet him, you'll understand his problem. And his roommate before the last roommate realized he was gay because of Lucas and had to leave, also. He's got this kind of affect, you know? So you might want to be careful."

Maya scoffed. "So you saying I'm gay?"

"Well, no," Zay scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "I wasn't saying you're gay, which there's nothing wrong with being gay—by the way. Lucas is totally open minded to gay roommates, I mean. Like, he loves attention and he doesn't really care from what gender, you know? And I wasn't saying you're gay, I just think..."

He trailed off, refusing to finish his sentence. So Maya finished it for him. "You just think I'm more in touch with my feminine side than most guys?"

"Well, yeah!" Zay nodded his head securely. "That's what I was trying to say."

Maya felt her rage boil up for some reason, and she didn't even know _why_. Of _course_ she was more in touch with her feminine side, considering the fact that she was most definitely a girl. But Zay didn't know that, and for some reason, that pissed her off. So, she felt her hand touch his chest and she felt his body plummet to the edge of the elevator.

"I may be small, but _remember_ this," she glared at him angrily, her small hands clenching around the material of his shirt. "I'm strong and I will be able to deal with anything that comes my way."

Zay grimaced as the pain rippled through his chest and he softly shoved her hands off of him. "Okay, Matt. You need to chill a little. You're new, so I'm gonna let that slide with me today. But trust me, you don't want to make an enemy with me nor do you want to make an enemy with Lucas. It will only set you bad for life."

Maya rolled her eyes and stepped away from Zay. She knew she was getting herself into a bad situation, because when she was a girl, no one would ever intentionally hurt her. She really needed to set a good image if she didn't want to get into some trouble, otherwise, things would end _badly_. Suddenly, the elevator doors opened and Zay quickly made his way out, navigating through the halls until he found her dorm room.

"There we go," he gestured to the door he was standing in front of. "4C12. Fair warning though," Zay grimaced slightly as if he were recalling a bad memory. "He's also the star baseball player. Which brings us to this," Zay said dramatically, grabbing the keycard from the smaller one and swiping it once, waiting for the lights above the knob to turn green. Once it did, Zay opened the door swiftly and Maya's eyes thought they had seen hell and back. She totally wished she hadn't peeked after Zay opened the door.

There he was, apparent star baseball player standing in the middle of the room, his arms stretched over his head.

And he was totally naked.

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 **okay i had to revise this whole thing. my first rough draft was too slow and i didnt like the way i wrote it. it had too much dialogue for my liking but Anyway. this is a REALLY fast paced first chapter but i needed to establish the story before i started actually writing what's happening.**

 **REVIEW AND FAVE!**


	2. the part where maya meets her roommate

**okay im ANSWERING something real quick but yall r so cute ! i love cute little reviews they make me happy. anyway! Guest:** Ok I totally love this story already but can u already have Lucas know she's a girl like he figures it out but he wont snitch on her and keeps her secret **and my answer is this: i cant do that! but dont yall worry, lucas is gonna find out much earlier than anybody else. this fanfic was based off another austin and ally fanfic ? which is kinda weird and the writing was Super Bad u know how it is but anyway im taking some ideas from that, some ideas of my own, and some ideas from she's the man. so it's not based entirely off of she's the man just the concept. but i'm taking stuff into my own direction and there will be some twists and turns. anyway!**

 **enjoy this chapter XOXO. forgive me for grammar i did this last week and did a grammar check also last week but im too lazy to do another**

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Forgive her if she screamed, but once she was pushed into the room by her darker friend and the door slammed behind her head, things were doomed to go to hell. Lucas payed no mind to the smaller, five foot boy cowering in the corner of the room. She was completely appalled with the idea of dorming with some womanizer who liked his junk to fly everywhere. Maya wasn't a prude, no, but she wasn't worldly either, and this image was disturbing her mind. Good thing her taller best friend wasn't in her current position or Riley would be clawing out her eyeballs at this point.

The blonde quickly turned around and shielded her eyes with her hand. She wanted to bang her head on the door multiple times for letting Riley convince her to dress up as a boy and be in this big shit of a mess, but she had to save her anger and resentment for her best friend another day. She had to deal with the problem at hand: the problem being the most attractive guy in the school was totally and completely stark naked in the middle of her dorm room and she had no idea what to fucking do.

"Dude," she heard his deep voice say. Her knees nearly buckled and she wanted to slap herself on the upside of the head for even being attracted to him in the first place. He continued. "Dude, are you alright?" he asked her and she clenched her teeth, her head lying still on the hard wood. (Not his hard wood, the doors hard wood.)

"I'd be _better_ ," she responded, clenching her teeth ever so slightly and lowering her voice to the same tone she used around Zay, "if you.. you know, put on some pants."

And then she heard his laugh, kind of cruel and a know-it-all kind of laugh and she knew that if she turned around, there would be a shit eating grin in the place of where there was supposed to be a genuine, forgiving smile. Why did the universe hate her so much to the point where they had to dorm her with, probably, the most pathetic excuse in the school?

"You must be new here," he stated in a matter-o-fact tone as if he knew the secret to the universe. Her head was still plastered against her dorm room door and she refused to move to look to see if he had managed to put on any pants, and the likelihood of that being was zero percent. She really had to figure out how to get out of the situation she was in. She always had her manipulative ways to control men at her will previously, considering the size of her boobage, which mostly hypnotized men to the point where she got whatever she wanted.

But her boobs were being plastered with some bandages and she had no advantage anymore unless this so called star baseball player Lucas guy was gay. Which either of the questions she would have to ask to get the answer weren't exactly socially acceptable, so whatever.

So Maya sighed out a heavy breath and shook her head against the wood. "You noticed?" she responded sarcastically. If she would look behind her at this point, which she didn't, she would notice that Lucas had both eyebrows raised and he also had no pants on, _again_. Good god.

Lucas coughed out dramatically and shook his head, continuing his stretches as if he had never been interrupted by some short blonde male that really needed a growth spurt soon. "Right.. anyway," he drawled, reaching down to touch his toes. "You should know that at this time—check your watch will you?"

Maya internally groaned and lifted up her wrist from her hand to check the time. "It's five fifty nine," she stated. "PM."

"Well you're just in luck," he promised, standing up once to throw his shoulder over his head to stretch it. "My daily naked stretches have ended. Be careful around this dorm if you don't want to see my junk hanging out anymore, avoid here from five thirty to six," and just then did an alarm go off from Maya's right and Lucas reached over quickly to turn it off. "Hand me my pants, won't you?" he asked her and Maya thought she heard a slight southern twinge to his accent and she refrained herself from chuckling.

Maya held her left hand over her eyes and reached over to grab a pair on pants to throw his way. The pants knocked on Lucas' chest and fell to the ground and he chuckled, reaching over to pick them up and put them on to hide his junk. "You from Texas or something?" Maya asked the taller male without turning around.

"You know, Shorty, you can turn around now. All of my goods have been covered up."

Maya refrained herself from rolling her eyes and turned around to confirm if he was telling the truth, when he was, in fact, telling the truth. She knew she was still super fucked, though, because he had no shirt while his pants were hanging dangerously low on his hips and it took all of Maya's willpower to not look there. (And god, his chest was a whole 'nother story.)

"Are you really calling me Shorty?" she asked menacingly, crossing her arms and taking a defensive stance. "I mean, you're from Texas or something so you're probably just a stupid Huckleberry."

Lucas nodded for a moment with his eyebrows raised and shook his head, looking at her curiously. "Well, I mean, you're kind of a whole foot shorter than me so I automatically just assumed that you've lacked your growth spurt."

Maya clenched her jaw and balled her fists, refraining the scream that was bound to come. She really wanted to grab this punk's head and bang it repeatedly on a doorknob or something, but she would have to save that fantasy for another day. "Okay, so you _are_ Texan?" she clarified, ignoring his crass marks towards her height. (Yeah, believe it or not she already _knew_ she was short.)

"Why do you care, man?" he asked her, going to the other side of the room to pop in some gum. "You're one interesting little man, I think I've taken a liking to you."

"Are you Texan or not?!" she nearly yelled, her hands flailing everywhere.

"Damn, okay, Shorty, you've got quite a temper there, take a chill pill won't you?" he said in a joking manner. Maya knew that he was trying _real_ hard to piss her off and she had no idea how he did it so well. She had known him for a period of three minutes and somehow, she wanted to murder him. Numerous amounts of times. Over and over again. (Along with other things, but she wasn't ready to disclose that information _quite_ yet.) "And yes, dude, I'm totally from Texas. They've got some fine girls down there, you know? Nice tits and all that."

The blonde one had to close her mouth from screaming profanities his way. Were all boys this totally disturbing and crass? What he was saying, first of all, wasn't even that _bad_ in the first place and for some odd reason, she wanted to rip every follicle out of his scalp and shove it up his ass. So, instead, Maya nodded her head slowly, unsure of how to respond. She would have to talk to Riley about what to say if she were ever going to fit in (she wasn't ever, she knew that but she desperately needed to be the _slightest_ bit normal).

The door suddenly erupted in loud knocks and Maya jumped in surprise, turning around on her heel quickly to answer the door. "God only hopes that you're the only one in this school who does naked stretches in the middle of their dorm room."

"The whole baseball team does," he stated nonchalantly, going to his bed on the left side of the room, which was covered in various amounts of molding bananas. "Sure, they're more conservative than me about it, but I like the space, you know?" he said to her with a mischievous smile. "Plus, none of them have a body like mine, which only gives me the right to flaunt it whenever I can."

"Humble," she mumbled sarcastically, opening the door to reveal the butler whom had brought her bags up to her dorm room.

She could see the sweat beading on his forehead and she almost nearly chuckled. She needed a lot more than the average boy, she figured. She had to stuff her suitcase with bras and panties, along with tampons and pads and other female necessities that took up a big size area. "You pack... light," the butler noted sarcastically with a loud cough, giving the blonde an eye roll before Maya took the bags from him, dragging them across the floor all the way to the right side of the room where there was a made bed.

"What's your name, anyway?" Lucas asked her, picking up the baseball on his bedside table and lying on his comforter to play with it dramatically. "Gotta know the name of all the Shorty's in this school."

"Is your intention to scare off every single new prey in this school or is it just in your personality to be some self centered, crass, douche?" she asked him curiously, shoving her suitcases under her bed. She couldn't unpack in front of him or he would see all of her feminine deals and then he would get really curious and things would go downhill from there.

Lucas payed no mind to the angry blonde on the other side of the room, instead rolling his eyes. "Listen, dude, you're totally new, you know? Which is like chill, and stuff, I guess. But, whatever. But since you're new, us boys gotta give you a little leniency before we make a fool of you, you know? And I normally scare off the new people in this dorm, but you seem pretty chill, you know?"

Maya was acting the exact _opposite_ of chill. "I don't like being called Shorty, you know."

Lucas shrugged, throwing the baseball up perfectly and catching it softly back in his hand. "I don't like being called Huckleberry, but we don't always get what we want."

"So are you some kind of hippy?"

Lucas laughed at that, letting the ball fall on his (rock hard, dammit) chest and rolling over to look at the short one on the right side of the room. "Listen, dude, you've got this all wrong. Zay probably told you about me, right? He was all right about that shit, you know how it is. Everyone aspires to be me, sometimes I just can't help it—you know? Like, it's sometimes hard being the perfect dude around here that everyone wants to be like. Everyone wants to be my friend, you feel?"

"What are you even _getting_ at?" she interrogated him, sitting on her bed.

This time, Lucas stood up and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Maya had to keep her eyes trained on his eyes because his biceps were fucking _gigantic_. "Listen, if you're my roommate then we just gotta lie down a couple of rules," he stated with a soft shrug. "That being, one of the rules of this campus is to not bring in girls in your dorm. I obviously don't listen, but you seem like a rule following type dude." Maya's mouth hung open because he was _real_ off about that one. "Anyway, be a bro and don't tell me out when I bring home a girl. We can get a little bit noisy but just buy some earmuffs to tune our shit out. Easy, dude."

This was one _weird_ guy.

"Are you on drugs or something?"

"Dude, no!" Lucas exclaimed. "Well, not right now, at least. Sometimes I am, but you just gotta live with that weed stench sometimes." (She's done weed before but he didn't need to know that.) "Listen, if I do something illegal, don't tell me out on it. It's kind of the deal around here, I get away with what I want and no one finds out. We don't want to mess up the balance."

Maya had to hold herself back from banging her head repeatedly on her wall.

"Right, anyway, Shorty, what's your name?"

"It's Matthew, but I suppose I go by Matt," she stated.

Lucas scratched his head for a moment. "I like Shorty better," he prompted and if looks could kill he'd be ten feet under. "Anyway, I can tell that you're struggling with your masculinity and I can totally help you with—"

"Okay!" Maya screeched, standing up from her bed. "Just because I'm _short_ doesn't mean I'm struggling with my masculinity, thank you very much!" she yelped, her arms crossing her chest. "You know, you can kindly shut the fuck up right about now, in fact, that would be greatly appreciated."

The taller one tsked softly and shook his head, his arms still crossed in front of his chest. "As I said before," he stated, "you're new, so I'm gonna let this behavior of yours slide today. But after today, you really better start watching your back if you're going to keep this behavior up, Shorty. I'm kind of a big deal in this school and you might want to tone your temper down a bit."

Maya scoffed. "Yeah, okay Ranger Rick, like I'm totally going to listen to you."

"Ranger Rick?" he asked her curiously. "First Huckleberry, and now Ranger Rick? Where do you come up with these?"

"At least I'm being creative," she shot back. "I mean, what kind of shit nickname is Shorty? Who comes up with that shit, full offense."

Lucas rolled his eyes, uncrossing his arms from his chest and falling back down on his comforter. "Shorty rolls off the tongue better, you know?" he stated with a shrug, lying on his bed. "Anyway, dude, I'm gonna go to sleep now. I just came home from baseball practice and I'm not in a mood to deal with your temper tantrums," he promised drowsily, rubbing his eyes.

Maya's eyebrows raised and she poked at her wig, wanting to tear the shitty piece of material off desperately. "Okay, but Zay said that you'd help me with my schedule."

"Zay was bluffing, dude. He just didn't want to help you with your schedule, and neither am I," he yawned with a wave of his hand. "I'm sure that you'll figure it out." And with that, his heavy snores soon filled up their dorm room.

Maya had a few more problems than she thought she would have to encounter. There was always the problem of her insufferable roommate who never wore pants, her schedule no one wanted to help her with, her roommate who snored and she thought that California could hear at this point, that itchy ass wig that she wanted to shred, her uncomfortably squished boobs, and her apparent lack of masculinity that everyone seemed to notice. (Also, you can't forget that for some damned and fucked up reason, she was super attracted to her roommate in the I want to fuck you type of way, and there was absolutely nothing she could do to relieve the sexual desire because she was also pretty certain that she couldn't tell her roommate that she was female or she would be fucked in more than one way.)

Well, at least now she could unpack her belongings without his presence (he was still in the room but she was betting he was a deep sleeper). And where on _earth_ was she going to hide her tampons?

She wasn't so sure anything good was going to come out of this, so instead, she decided to grab her phone from her back pocket and dial her best friends number quickly, poking at her head irritably. After three rings, she heard her best friend's voice screech through the other line and Maya had to physically stop herself from throwing her cellphone at the wall.

"So how's your school so far?" Riley interrogated with a quirky smile.

Maya made a grimace and let her body plop onto her uncomfortable comforter and she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Riley, honey, baby," she said sarcastically. "I fucking _hate_ you. I'm so royally fucked here, you know? Like two people already have questioned me if I'm _really_ male and my roommate is some insufferable little—"

"Okay, honey," Riley interrupted with a roll of her eyes. "Sure, things will be rough in the beginning but all you really gotta do is put in trust that you'll be okay. I know how this is going to work out, I can see it. You'll be fine and your secret will remain sacred and everything will work out, you hear? And who cares if people are questioning your masculinity? You know you're a boy and that's all that matters," she cooed.

Maya coughed dramatically, propping her feet up on her bedside table. "Um, but that's the _problem_ Sweets, I'm _not_ a boy and I know that."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," her friend yawned, falling back on her bad and accidentally mimicking her blonde friend's motion by propping her feet up on the car dashboard. "So tell me about your roommate! Can I talk to him? Is he here right now?"

"Keep your tone down Sweetheart, won't you?" Maya grumbled into the phone dramatically. "Yeah, let me tell you about my roommate. Okay, first things first, he's this insufferable little bastard—let me tell you. He's got this mindset, you know, where he thinks he's like this hot piece of shit or whatever and that he rules the school."

Riley thought for a moment, scratching her head. "Well.. _is_ he a hot piece of shit?"

"Well, yeah!" Maya groaned, resting her hand on her forehead. "And it's kind of obnoxious, you know? Because like, I walk into my dorm room, this guy helps me and he's pretty chill, his name is Zay I think you'd like him but I digress. Anyway, so I walk into my dorm room," she muttered dramatically, "and there he is, my roommate so happens to be star baseball player of the school and he's just... stark naked! Like I get this _fresh_ view of his goods and it's kind of disturbing, you know?"

"Was he big?" her friend asked and Maya has to hold herself back from rolling her eyes. Riley just certainly had to know everything, didn't she?

"Yeah, he was decent size," Maya shrugged, giving up on the wig and completely tearing it off her head. "Well, I haven't really seen bigger. But it's not like I'm a prude, you know? Like I've seen my fair share of dicks and whatnot but that was a total surprise, so his junk flying everywhere was totally not welcome."

Riley giggled and stretched her foot slightly. "Anyway, trust me, things will pan out in a good way for you. But just make sure you always have your wig on and whatever and make sure you hide your feminine toiletries and such, you get the deal."

Maya picked up the sheet of paper she had kept towed in her pants and looked at it, looking at all of her classes, and then looking over to the star baseball player on the left side of the room, proceeding to roll her eyes. "Look, Riles, I gotta go figure out my classes because apparently my roommate will be a deadbeat and is no help at all. I enjoyed talking to you, but that doesn't mean I still don't hate you."

"Yeah, whatever," Riley giggled. "Okay, bye Maya!" The line dropped and Maya turned to get her mess of a wig back on so she could figure out her classes.

(She really fucking hated this.)

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 **listen, i know this has a weak beginning but we REALLY gotta establish the relationships before we can get into the story. so yall know that lucas is maya's Super Hot roommate and that could make things... interesting... in the future.. anyway. nice thought. okay yalls cute lil reviews were so Cute and i loved them and they keep me super motivated!**

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	3. the part where maya hates her roommate

**it's a surprise ive made it this far . wow. and no matter how many times yall ask im not gonna make it so lucas finds out quite yet, but trust me, he's gonna find out a whole lot sooner than other people**

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"Well, _this_ is a complete and utter horseshit, you know that?" she grumbled out into the air uselessly, no one around to help her navigate the shit school she was at. It was _gigantic_ , several floors that Maya didn't know how to get to and from. Sure, it was beautiful. It was white with a blue hi-light, the architecture beautifully done and a numerous amount of paintings circulating the schools halls. But not only was it beautiful, it was gigantic compared to her small haven of a high school known as John Quincy Adams High and she had no utter idea how to navigate the damned place.

And just when she decided to turn around, her head hit into something _hard_ and her body fell plummeting to the ground. And when she heard his sweet, soft laugh, she knew exactly who it was. She was certain that she heard an obnoxious twinge to his laugh and she wanted to rip his eyeballs out from his sockets and shove it up his ass.

She grumbled and rolled her eyes, putting her hands on the ground and pushing herself to get it up. Once she was up, she readjusted her wig slightly to make sure it was still on and dusted off the dust particles that managed to get on her due to her fall. "You're a piece of shit, you know that?" she told him indignantly, paying no mind to the one eyebrow he had raised due to her comment.

Lucas whistled lowly, shaking his head and smiling. "You've got quite a mouth there, Shorty. And a short fuse, if I may add on that. Let's just hope here that you don't have a short dick, for all of our sakes."

Maya took a long gulp and closed her eyes momentarily, thinking of what to say to the ass standing in front of her. She needed to act like a man, and if she wanted to act like a man, she needed to speak like a man. And if she wanted to speak like a man, she needed to think like a man. What would Auggie say in this situation? Granted, Auggie was only a mere thirteen years of age but she had no better example in her head. Cory would be appalled and her dad had left her all those years ago, so really, Auggie was the only male figure in her life to help her with her current situation.

"W - why would that be bad?" she asked him before she could think about her words, mentally slapping herself in the face. "What's wrong with me having a short dick - which I don't," which was entirely true, "but what's the matter if I _do_?" She was rambling on, which she _never_ did, she really needed to get a hold of herself before she spit out something like the fact that she was a girl. God only knows how bad that would go.

Lucas' face was still for a moment, which caught Maya's breath as if she had said something that had given away her identity. She was _certain_ she was wearing that cologne that Riley had stolen from her father, and she was certain that she had dropped her voice a few octaves down. What more was there to ask?

But then his face broke out in a wide smile and her heart melted into goo and she mentally slapped herself in the face. Okay, he _was_ attractive, she'd have to admit. But he was just some douche head calling himself the head of the school for whatever reason. So she kept a straight face and shoved that feeling she recently had to the base of her stomach where she hoped it wouldn't be disturbed. "You're one funny guy," Lucas said with a chuckle, slapping Maya's back and making her wince in pain slightly, but she kept her groan inside. "Dude, I think I've taken a liking to you and I don't really take a liking to anyone. Ask my bro Zay, you familiar with him, right?"

Maya shook her head, proceeding to scratch the nape of her neck, unsure of what to say next. "Anyway," she insinuated sharply, giving him an odd look. "I thought you were taking your nap."

"Dude, I was," he said with a goofy smile, his hands resting at his sides as he peered down to the shorter one in front of him. And if Lucas was completely honest, he had found that this new short kid was bemusing and amusing in a way, none of his other roommates had really given him a challenge. They were all boring upperclassman that Lucas couldn't care for, but this little Matt guy was way too full of anger for his own good.

Lucas continued, forgetting what he was talking about momentarily. "But then my fucking ringtone woke the shit up out of me!" he shook his head dramatically. "You know my bro Zay, right? I was talking about him earlier—"

" _Yes_ ," Maya drawled, rolling her eyes and tapping her foot impatiently. "I know who your bro Zay is. Does this story have a plot to it? I have places to be."

Lucas scoffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Dude, you gotta let me finish." He continued. "Anyway, my bro Zay set up my ringtone to be this obnoxious southern tune because he thinks he's funny—when he's not, by the way. Like not all," and Maya gave him this glare and all he did was chuckle. "Anyway, so I was picking up my phone and it was my dad," and suddenly the mood changed and it had shifted so suddenly, Maya had to keep her feet upright. The look in his eyes had darkened and his jaw was clenched and his fists were in balls.

"Dude, you okay?" she asked him, looking over his stance. Clearly, his dad was a sensitive topic with him.

And then Lucas shook his head softly, letting his familiar goofy grin flood back to his face. "Anyway, I totally ignored that call and got all pissed and stuff and decided to take a walk around the halls to see what was happening. Saw some of my chill friends so hung out with them for a little bit then came up here, because normally this level is completely empty and then I so happened to stumble on you swearing at the walls."

Maya didn't want to hear the whole story but she did so anyway, and when he was finished, she rolled her eyes so far back in her she saw black. "Anyway," she yawned, toying with her class card in her hand. "That was a total and complete waste of my time. Gotta go, Huckleberry, go finish my class schedule out and shit because clearly none of you shitheads are willing to help me."

"Well," he shrugged, "you're a freshman."

Maya's eyes nearly popped out of her head once she heard the words streaming from his lips and she was _this_ close to finding the nearest knife and chopping off his head. Clearly, all she wanted to do him was fuck him or murder him and she wasn't so sure that was a good combination. "I'm _not_ a freshman! I'm a senior! I am _literally_ seventeen going on eighteen what kind of pinheaded, doofus, shi—"

"Dude!" Lucas interrupted her with a confused look, his hands going up to a surrender position. "I was only joking because of your height, clearly you take easy offense to everything I say. Chill a little, won't you?"

"Oh, _I'll_ show you chill!" she screeched out, ready to pounce on him to claw out his beautiful green eyeballs. They wouldn't be so beautiful, she thinks, once they're a bloody mass in my hands.

But before she can even think about making her move, Lucas' hands are already clasped around her wrists and he's fucking _strong_ , his abs and biceps should have been an indicator. She can't move her wrists in any motion or she's certain that she's going to wake up with a bruise. "You're fucking crazy," he notes. "You know that?"

"I get that a lot."

Lucas hesitates to remove his hands for a moment, watching her face to see if she's ready to pounce on him again. (In Lucas' perspective, though, all he sees is some short blonde little dude who takes offense to everything he says and quite frankly, he doesn't understand.) They wait a few beats, his hand still clasped tightly around her wrists and her glare so hard that if looks could kill, he'd be dead by now.

Lucas loosens his grip up on the short blonde and she finally tugs away from him, rubbing her wrists sadly in pain. He had a _death_ grip. "That fucking hurt, you know?"

"You want to know what would have also hurt?" he asks her. "You clawing out my eyeballs, but you know, we don't always get what we want." She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Dude, you've got some real soft skin," he then notes suddenly and her eyebrows raise at that. What was she supposed to say? Of _course_ she had soft skin, she moisturized! But normal dudes don't moisturize, right?

She has to clear her throat a couple of times before attempting to divert to the topic of conversation. "You know, nice talking to you Lucas. I'm going to go figure out my class schedule while you do whatever douchebags like you do."

He clicks his tongue and shakes his head, his arms folding in front of his chest and making Maya think irreverent thoughts. If her best friend Riley was here, there would be no doubt that she would most definitely be in a pile of goo. "You so easily call me a douchebag," he states, "without even knowing me in the first place. Listen, we're roommates and we ought to get to know each other, right? I mean, I heard that roommates become the best of friends or whatever."

"I'm not _interested_ in becoming the 'best of friends or whatever' with you. You hear me? I'm not _interested_ ," she punctuates loudly as if he were a baby and he didn't understand (he clearly didn't).

"Okay," Lucas drawled, unsure of what to say next. "Clearly, you don't know whether or not to trust me, and I get that! But if you—"

She raised her hand to indicate him to stop talking, because quite frankly, she couldn't deal with anymore of the bullshit he is clearly spewing out. "No, I know whether or not to trust you. It's not that hard of a decision, Quickdraw."

" _Quickdraw_?" he asked her in disbelief, confused with her obvious resentment and anger towards him. They literally met, like, an hour ago or something and she clearly already hated him. And he wasn't really used to this feeling because _everyone_ liked him. "Where do you come up with this shit, Shorty?"

"My name is _Matt_!" she nearly screeched at the top of her lungs.

"You take offense to everything I say!" he yelled right back, getting immediately defensive in the way she was acting harsh and cruel towards him. "And my name is Lucas, if we're going down that route."

She huffed angrily and stomped her foot on the ground, taking in deep breaths to control her anger. This Lucas guy really got under her skin, and quick, and she had no idea what to about it. He was so fucking obnoxious to her for some reason and he wasn't as bad as Zay had described him, even toned down a little. But she had already set an image of him in her mind and that was of him _naked_ so forgive her if she was a little angry at him for his welcome that he had given her (that welcome being that she saw his junk long before she ever saw his face).

Lucas' hand went to the back of his neck reflexively and he rubbed it awkwardly. "I mean, if I have to prove myself to you or whatever I _will_ , I mean, if you want. I'll show you where your classes are."

But Maya payed no mind to him, crushing her card in her hand and turning around on her heel, stomping away from him to go find her classes on her own. Which would likely take years, but she wasn't in the mood to be affiliated with some womanizer (and, you know, she's had quite her fair share in that department, but he wouldn't understand so he didn't need to know).

"You're gonna get lost!" he stated, but she ignored his frill voice and finds her way.

(She got lost. Maybe thirty times before ever finding the first class on her schedule card.)

/

Going to bed was no pleasant ride either, for the both of them. Maya had to figure out someway to hide her boob bandages (Riley dubbed the name) without him finding out because no way in _hell_ was she going to wear those shitfests twenty four seven. She also had to figure out a way to hide her hair once she took off her wig.

And so she had decided on this: she would go to bed later and wake up earlier. Which was ultimately a bad idea on her part, because it left her grumpy all fucking _day_ because of her recent drop in sleep hours. And so, automatically, she was rash to him, which increased by a tenfold with her lack of sleep. God, she hated Riley.

Plus, when he woke up, he had no shirt on and she was certain that he was going to start doing his naked stretches in the middle of the room again. (And on top of that, she missed flaunting her curves but that was a thing for another day.)

"Are you ever, like, not partly naked?" she asked him, double checking that her bandages around her breast were secure.

"Why?" he responded, only just getting up with only his boxers and no shirt (and his chest was fucking _glistening_ ). "Do I make you uncomfortable?"

"Yes!" and then he would laugh at her, the kind of laugh he would get when he's making fun of her or just trying to be plain obnoxious. She thinks she has him pinned down, you know. He's the type where he gets away with everything and anything, no one even bats an _eye_ when he does something wrong. He's got this huge ego where he thinks that everyone loves him and when some little short boy the size of a third grader doesn't, he gets offended because he can't deal with the idea of one person not liking him. He's also a d-bag because according to the various amounts of rumors she had heard when she spent her time wandering around the campus, he beds someone and then drops them the next day.

He scratched his head for a moment, picking up the dirty laundry on his side of the room and kicking it under his bed. "You know what we should do?" he interrogated the young blonde lightly, his eyes filled with a type of mirth mischievously and Maya knew that whatever he was going to suggest would most likely end up in a doomed hell.

So she rubbed her temples slightly, preparing for his idea. "What would that be?" she asked him, grabbing her backpack under her bed so she could attempt to find her first period (and at this point, she was regretting not letting Lucas help her but he didn't need to know that).

"We need a boys night out!" And Maya nearly gagged, but he continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. "You're clearly uncomfortable here at this school—"

"That's because of _you_."

"—and you're my roommate—"

"Much to my dismay!"

"—and you really don't have any friends—"

"I'm going to beat the shit outta you."

"—and me and my friends know this place outside of school and we're willing to hook you up, you know? I mean, if you're really not gay like you claim you are, then you wouldn't mind a little boys night out at some clubs."

Maya groaned. No way in _hell_ was she going to go to a nightclub with her roommate. No way in _hell_. "I'm not going to a nightclub with you, Huckleberry. Nice try, though."

"It'll be fun!" Lucas whined, stomping his foot on the ground like a child. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, thinking of a way to convince his blonde roommate to go with him to the nightclub. "I mean, I get it if you have a girlfriend, which I'm sure you don't."

Maya's eyes fluttered open and a thought came to her mind, if she wanted Lucas to get off her back about the nightclub ordeal, she could totally act and pretend she had a girlfriend. (Of course, she thought, I'm so stupid.) "As a matter of fact, I _do_. Have a girlfriend, that is."

"With your height?" Lucas scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Who would date someone like you?"

Maya's eyes shot up in surprise at his snarky comment and the veins in her arms bulged with anger. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"You know what it means," he said with a click of his tongue, his eyebrow quirking slightly and being satisfied with her immediate angry response. I have to get him riled up, is his thought, if I want to convince him to come to the club with me. He continued, "No one would want to date someone with your petite size and apparent lack of masculinity. It's just not attractive to girls, really."

And _how_ on earth would he know what girls find attractive in boys? Maya knew fairly well that size didn't matter to her (well, the size of some other things did but she wouldn't go into details) and it was more of the personality than how they looked, and he had just assumed that every girl was so shallow to only care about appearance. She was _furious_ , and not for the reasons he thought (and, well, for that too). "You know," she growled, "I'll show you _lack_ of masculinity."

Just the reaction he had wanted.

Before she could reach up and attempt to claw his eyeballs out the second time in two days, he had grabbed her small wrists with ease and watched her scramble uselessly, trying to tug her body free from his hold. "I mean, you _can_ prove it. You know how important masculinity is to us males, considering you are one." Her breath hitched as his eyes suggested something different and she had to bite her tongue to keep herself from kicking his shins.

Her eyes narrowed as she felt his grip on her slacken slightly, and she tugged uselessly, still no successful attempt at breaking free from his hands. "I'm not going to the club, Hop-A-Long." He snorted at that, his eyebrows raising as he heard yet another one of his (or her?) nicknames. He wouldn't be able to get used to him, would he?

And suddenly, he dropped her wrists from his hands and shrugged, shoving his hands deep into his sweatpants pockets. "Sure, dude, whatever. Just know that I'll never believe you're truly a man if you don't go to once nightclub in your life."

Two things were going through her head, one being that he didn't really think she was male (and god, she knew that was a problem), or that he had just suggested that her act wasn't good enough. Either one wasn't good for her, on her part and she needed to figure out a way to sell her deal once and for all that she was, in fact, a male and that he needed to hop off her (hypothetical) dick about it.

And when he saw her eyebrows raise for a split second, he knew that he had sold it to her. " _Fine_ ," she spat venomously in his direction. "I'll go to the nightclub with you."

"Thanks dude!" Lucas said happily, slapping the back of her back and she winced in pain with a groan. "See you around school, buddy. I'll text you the details, just make sure you're at our dorm before I end my stretches so we can go get ready."

"Um!" she yelped, reaching her hand out in front of her uselessly as Lucas already went out the door. "You don't even have my _number_!"

God, whatever. She knew she had dug herself into a shithole this time, and it was all because of her damned pride. She would need to figure out a way to ensure the idea in Lucas' mind, she was a _boy_.

She also had to call her best friend and start yelling at her, but that would have to wait for another time or she would be late to her first period. She still had no fucking idea how to navigate the damned school, and she was already certain she was going to be at least fifteen minutes late.

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 **right anyway , i am now known on tumblr for the girl who posted the i hate rucas video lol. also i didnt bother to grammar check this im sorry im so lazy**

 **REVIEW AND FAVE! ! !**


	4. the part where maya is in a predicament

Granted, Maya should have expected this with the mess she was already in. Accepting the scholarship to the prestigious school was the first problem, something she should have never done. But with Riley's puppy dog eyes and the wonderful opportunities being presented to her, it was nearly _impossible_ not to. Then, being roomed with Lucas was the second problem.

She figured that if she had gotten roomed with anybody else, she wouldn't be in this mess. Roommates were supposed to leave each other alone and let them hang out with their friends, not force them to become friends and take them to nightclubs. But clearly the universe hated her in more ways than one.

After her last class of the day, she scratched her head on her wig where it itched like horseshit. She fucking hated her damned wig. It was the only one her and her best friend Riley found before the deadline was up to go to the school, and she hadn't tried it on before. Plus, the boob bandages were nearly cutting off her circulation and she felt like she couldn't breathe.

She knew Lucas' schedule fairly well, only due to the fact of Lucas' narcissistic personality in which he would tell her everything about his life - not leaving anytime for her to intervene. After his last class, he had baseball practice right after school (and according to _him_ he was the star baseball player) for a few hours and then he would go to his dorm and take a shower, which left the naked stretches right after (she wasn't too excited about that part).

He had told her during lunch that they would be going to the nightclub an hour after his naked stretches were completed. The general party was an odd one. It was Lucas, star baseball player and most popular guy in the school along with his best friend Zay, the general rebel kid that liked to get in trouble. Along with them was Charlie Gardner, some romantic guy that fell in love way too easily and listened to romantic sonnets all day. Farkle Minkus, who was also another one of his best friends, he was some scholarly hero or whatever - the smartest person probably in New York. According to Lucas (who never stopped talking, for that matter), he was probably going to rule the world one day. And of course, the new, short, small blonde that had too much anger for her (or his) own good.

So, granted, the look of the group was an odd one. Lucas was definitely the ladies girl out of all of them, then following Charlie with his romantic sappiness. Follow Zay, because he had this aura around him that attracted girls. Apparently, Farkle wasn't much of a ladies man more of a... mans man. Or so to speak, he was gay.

So there they were; a star athlete, a rebel, a romantic sap, an academic hero, and a small angry girl pretending to be a boy at the party. She felt like she was in her own version of the Breakfast Club.

There was also the ever presenting problem: Maya didn't have any nightclub clothes. Sure, she she did as a _girl_ \- but what were boys even supposed to wear when they went to nightclubs? She didn't know much of it, she had been to her fair share of nightclubs back at John Quincy Adams High, but she was much too drunk to remember anything about what the boys looked like. She would totally have to contact Riley about this, or she would:

A. be exposed

B. get laughed at by Lucas

C. not being believed in her own masculinity

and all of those options were bad.

She knew that Lucas would be at his baseball practice so she figured she could let her boobs be free for a moment or two and she took off her damned wig, taking out her phone from her bookbag and dialing up her best friend. After the third ring, the energetic brunette picked it up and gave her blonde friend a warm welcome.

"Maya!" she yelled happily, falling to the ground promptly but picking herself up and wiping the dust off of her shoulders. "What's it like up there in Elizabeth Academy? Have you fallen in love? Have you seen your roommate's junk again? Was it bigger than last time? Do you—"

Maya interrupted her squirrel like friend with a sharp cough, "Slow down there, honey. You need some time to breathe."

Riley giggled softly and shook her head, a smile plastered on her face. "I'm sorry! I'm just so excited that for the first time in your life, you're finally able to achieve your dreams like you always wanted to! That just makes me so happy, you know?"

Maya smiled as her friend rambled on about the opportunities Elizabeth Academy would present. But shit, that wasn't why she was on the phone; she had a more pressing matter to talk about. After a good three minutes of Riley talking (Maya wasn't so sure she had taken a breath quite yet) Maya interrupted her once more. "I love you Riles, but this is not why I called you."

A silence ensued for a moment or two between them while Riley caught her breath. Afterwards, she responded. "What's the matter?"

Maya took a deep breath before continuing. "Like, okay, _listen_. I've got myself into a situation. And not as bad as a situation you might think, but still _bad_ and I'm stuck and, god, I really need your help because you love fashion - right? And, like, this is a fashion emergency as well as other things I could delve into. But, really—"

"And I thought I was the rambler," her best friend joked. Maya rolled her eyes at that, and took in a shaky breath.

"Right, anyway," she coughed. "You see, my roommate Lucas, the one I mentioned before, doesn't really think I have enough masculinity or something. I don't know, some utter bullshit that I couldn't care less for - but I do care! Like, that's the problem," she sighed dramatically. "I mean, it only starts as him not believing I have enough masculinity, which is bullshit by the way. Like who cares if someone doesn't have enough masculinity! But I digress, anyway. What I'm _trying_ to say is that it starts off as something simple and then one day he's pulling at my wig or cutting up my bandages or some crazy shit and suddenly I'm exposed!"

Riley refrained herself from laughing at her paranoid best friend. This was odd, though, because normally the roles were switched. Riley was generally the paranoid, gullible, and easy to convince one. Maya was the one who was carefree, hard to impress, and the persuasive one. But ever since her best friend put on her wig and declared herself to be named Matt, nothing was normal.

The blonde continued. "So, like, I was trying to prove that I was some masculine figure or whatever and then I got all fired up - and you know how I am when I'm fired up, but anyway. So like I was super angry or whatever and now I'm going to some nightclub and I have no clothes to wear."

Riley thought for a moment she didn't hear her friend right until she replayed what she had said over in her mind. "Wait, you're going to a nightclub?!" her eyes nearly popping out of her head. "Why don't you think these things through?"

"I'm sorry!" Maya groaned, hitting her head on her hand. "It was in the moment, and I totally didn't think of the consequences. I'm ruined, forever."

"Oh my god, you're so dramatic, Maya. Listen, we'll just find you something to wear."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Yeah but what if some girl finds me attractive and tries to get all jiggy with me?"

Riley rolled her eyes at her paranoid friend and yawned, throwing her arm behind her head. "No average straight female would find you attractive as a male. Sure, as a female but not with your tiny stature."

"Oh my god, that's exactly what Lucas said!" she whined, stomping her foot on her carpet floor. "God, Riles, I need help and I need it fast."

"I'm useless!" she groaned. "I'm useless, you hear me? I'm an hour drive away from you and that's on a good day! There's so much traffic outside, I bet I'd walk faster than this."

"Well, what am I supposed to do?"

Riley gave a sigh in exasperation. "Oh, I don't know..." she trailed off dramatically, scratching her head thoughtfully. "Not get yourself into reckless situations like this."

"Oh, so now it's _my_ fault? You were the one that pushed me to enroll in this shitfest of a school! Did you know that it's like - basically impossible to navigate? And, like, a whole bunch of other things I could delve into but I digress."

"How about you ask Lucas for help? I mean, I'm sure he has some clothes he would like to lend to you if he had taken the time out of his day to even invite you to a nightclub."

Maya's eyes raised up at the suggestion coming from her friends lips. "Nononononono _no_ ," she started off immediately. "There are one too many problems with that," she insinuated sharply, her eyebrows scrunched. "Lucas is, like, two heads taller than me. His arms are freakishly long and he has these giraffe legs - like I don't know how he navigates to be completely honest!"

Her best friend shut her eyes tightly and sighed loudly. "Oh my god, Maya. I can't help you."

And suddenly the line was dead and she hated her best friend.

So there were two outcomes to the predicament she was in:

A. refuse to go to the party and be made fun of the rest of her high school career by Lucas or

B. ask Lucas for clothes to go to the party and look like an oaf

and the best course of action was to choose B. No matter how much she hated it, she had to go to the party.

/

After he was promptly finished with his Naked Stretches of The Day, Maya wrung her hands together in a nervous matter. Asking Lucas would be no walk in the park, that was for certain. She knew what his reaction would most likely be with the clues she had already picked up about him; suffice to say, it was not going to be pretty.

"Lucas," Maya grumbled out hoarsely, nervously nipping at the hair of her neck. "Listen," she drawled dramatically, feeling her mouth go dry and clamp up. She wasn't ever like this, not ever before. She was always able to express her feelings to anyone - no matter the gender. But her mouth was shut once she finally faced Lucas.

"What's up?" he asked her, pulling up his pants to cover his underwear. "Why aren't you ready?" he asked her suddenly, his naked chest glistening in the dorm room light. "Or, at least getting ready? Are you backing out on me so soon?"

"Nonononono _no_ ," she quickly clarified, her hands jumping up from her sides and defending herself. "No, that's _not_ it. That's the problem, because I want to go. I do but—" her words suddenly stopped again and she wanted to bang her head against the wall numerous times.

"Oh my god, Matt," Lucas yelped. "Honestly, if you don't want to go then don't." But she could see that he was totally disappointed. God, why was she such a chicken that she couldn't even get the words out of her system?

She groaned loudly, once again wringing her hands together nervously. "Listen, if I tell you, you'll make fun of me."

"I won't."

"But you will."

"But I won't."

"But you _will_."

Lucas sighed loudly, rubbing his hand over his face, his still naked chest making Maya's knees weak. God, she had to control herself. "How about you tell me and lets find out if I'll make fun of you, okay?"

His voice, no matter how much she hated admitting it, was very persuasive and comforting. God, she hated herself for even letting her knees get weak in his presence. _Really_ attractive men made her knees weak, he was no exception. "Okay, listen, I'm in a predicament and it'd be fine if you _didn't_ make fun of—"

Lucas groaned loudly and Maya took that as a cue to just spit it out before she managed to embarrass herself even farther than she already had. "I'm new to this whole... _party_ thing," she was slightly telling the truth. She was new to the whole party scene as male of course, well she was new to _everything_ as male. She cleared her throat loudly. "I don't have any clothes."

Now that she had finally gotten it out, it didn't seem as dramatic as she made it seem.

That is, until Lucas was holding back a fit of laughter that was threatening to escape. She hated him much more than she would like, she wanted this conversation to go smoothly. She would ask Lucas for some clothes, he would kindly accept, and then they would be moving on with their merry lives. Nothing was ever simple with her, was it? And especially with him.

"See? This is why I didn't tell you!"

"No—no.." he muttered in between laughs. "That's not why I'm laughing," he said with a light hiccup. "I just find it so utterly hilarious how you made such a big deal over clothes, as if I don't have some. You literally could have come up to me in the middle of my naked stretches—"

"Not that I wanted to," she interrupted him with a slight roll of the eyes.

"—and ask me for clothes instead of making a big deal out of nothing." She scoffed, kicking her toe on the carpet. She wasn't that dramatic, Lucas was just pissy. "But I can see why you were hesitant," he chuckled. "You're tiny, you would have to quadruple fold the sleeves so they wouldn't drape down on your arms."

"Anyway," she coughed in a bored matter, clearly done with this conversation. "Do you have something I can wear or are we going to bicker all day? Of course, if you don't want to go, I won't fight."

His chest was still glistening in the dorm room light and she had to use all of her willpower to not look at his perfectly traced abs. "Yeah, you'd like to think you would get out of this." He wandered his way over to dresser on his side of the room, picking out a few clothes he assumed would fit his short friend and threw them over his way.

Maya looked at them skeptically; despite the fact that the clothes Lucas had picked out for her, they were still freakishly long on her small body. No doubt she would have to cuff the jeans and fold up the sleeves more times than once to make sure they didn't fall over her body like a blanket.

Once she went into the bathroom, she let herself breathe a little. Their encounter about the clothes went better than planned, but not as well she would have liked. She was hoping no laughs, but she was wrong. Her height was always something to joke and poke about, apparently. She pulled the pants over her short legs and cuffed them a few times so they wouldn't drag on the floor. She also pulled over the shirt and cuffed the sleeves a few times all the while wrapping a belt around her hips to secure the baggy pants on her waist.

She was not a sight for sore eyes in the mirror, but it would have to do—it was all she had.

She knew that Lucas was refraining from laughing once she stepped out of their small bathroom due to the look in his eyes. His mouth twitched slightly upwards and she was _this_ close to clawing out his eyeballs once more. But really, truly, he was trying his best to hold back the laughter that was certainly destined to come.

Lucas, himself, was completely dressed in that manner. His clothes seemed to fit him much better than on her, his shirt was tightly against his chest in the most perfect way that could drive a girl insane. You could see the slight outline of his prominent abs, it tugged all the right places. She slapped her knees slightly and shook her head.

"Are you ready?" he asked her, a slight chuckle lacing.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she muttered dramatically.

A knock erupted on the door loudly and Maya turned around, watching as Lucas reached to open the door. A small group piled into the room. She easily recognized them from her roommate's descriptions. First, she saw Zay—whom had a small smile on his face after he had seen how funny Maya looked dressed up in someones clothes who was two heads taller. She remembered to kick his ass later.

She next saw Farkle being pushed through the door by an exterior source, his hair falling over his face. His dress clothes weren't much better than Maya, but no person payed attention as if it were an average occurrence. He wore suspenders and a collared shirt and Maya suddenly got why he wasn't much of a ladies man.

Finally, Charlie piled in after Farkle, his hair slightly pushed up. His aura was screaming romance, and she knew that if Charlie and Riley got acquainted, she would certainly take a liking to him. Maybe if he wasn't such a sap as Lucas had told her, she could perhaps even be attracted to him. He wasn't _not_ attractive, but that was besides the point.

Lucas finally spoke. "Seems as if the whole crew is here," he smirked, taking an eye to each one of them. Suffice to say, the group was an _odd_ looking one. She figured Lucas would never be seen dead with a few of these characters, but she always guessing him wrong.

The car ride to the club was one filled with things she wishes she could forget. She knew boys were rather... rash and vulgar in some aspects (of course, she was too to a certain extent) and she was no prude either, but the things they were insinuating and suggesting were things she was sure would make their Mama cry blood.

If Riley was here, she would be clawing her way out of the car. Maya was also certain that if they knew she was female, they wouldn't be saying such vulgar things. (Granted, she's certainly said _worse_ to Riley in the confines of her own room, but it was a bit odd hearing it from the opposite gender and without them knowing that she was actually female.)

Once Lucas pulled up the club and handed everyone their fake IDs (in which Lucas just _had_ to use the worst possible picture of her), he led them to the front of the club. Giving the security guard a look, they were soon let in and Maya looked around hastily, taking in the scene.

This would certainly be interesting.

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 **sorry for the late update hehe review and fave**


	5. the part where maya tells someone

**here we go babiez! just to warn you however... a lot of stuff happens in this chapter. this is where i get the story moving and after this, lots of more things are going to happen! secrets will be revealed...trust tested...you get the gist.**

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As soon as they walked in, Lucas grabbed three bottles of beer and distributed them out to Zay, Charlie, and Farkle - obviously ignoring the small blonde. So, Maya cleared her throat. "Huckleberry," she said sharply, nearly stomping on his foot with her heel. "You forgot that I still exist, too. Hand me a beer."

Lucas rolled his eyes as if Maya weren't serious, but when he saw her angry expression, his face flattened. "You can't be serious! You're tiny, I feel like you'd get easily drunk and fall to the floor only five minutes in."

Maya scoffed at him. Sure, she was small, but she held great. Lucas needed to shut his mouth before she shut it up for him (with her fist, that is). "Give me a beer," she prompted loudly, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. Suffice to say, she was excited to get drunk. The last time she had gotten drunk felt like _ages_ ago and she really needed the stress relief. "Let's see who can hold longer," she promised with an eyebrow raised, challenging Lucas.

"You can't be serious," he said again.

She cocked her head slightly to the side and smiled, lightly chuckling. Lucas thought he had her all figured out, she was sure; but he didn't know half of the things that went through her head. "I am," she whispered, grabbing the beer bottle from Zay's hands and chugging it down, ignoring the tingling feel in the back of her throat.

Charlie's eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight. He wasn't so sure that Maya could hold. "Are you going to be okay there, buddy?" he asked the short blonde, slapping his back to make sure (s)he wasn't suffocating.

Her eyes didn't waver for a second, chugging down the sticky liquid without a blink. Once she finished, she made a breathy "ahh" sound and clicked her tongue. "See, Lucas," she challenged, poking his chest pointly, "I can hold. I'm not so sure about you."

Zay whistled off to the right but the bantering pair merely ignored him. Maya wasn't so sure what Farkle was doing, he seemed to wander off to do his own thing. "Is that a challenge?" he asked, grabbing the beer from Charlie's hands and taking it down just as quick as Maya did.

This was going to be an interesting night.

/

What they were doing wasn't exactly safe, and Zay was in the midst of having a panic attack as they both gulped down yet another shot. They were going to have a serious hangover the next day and he wasn't so sure he wanted to deal with a mopey Lucas all day long. He would just get Matt to deal with it. He was living with him anyway, he would have to deal with his random drunk outbursts at one point.

It was clear that Matt already had an antagonistic attitude towards Lucas, which was rare. Usually, his roommates took a rather liking to him in the beginning, because of his charming attitude and _very_ good looks. They moved out much later because they found out his... true self. Not that it was bad, mind you. But much different from the reality they started to perceive of him because of what he gave off.

So it could be good for Lucas, having someone challenge him and being able to deal with his attitude when the time came.

/

Maya gulped down yet another shot, keeping herself unfazed. Inside, however, she was jumping. She forgot how many shots she had taken, but she was sure the smart one was keeping track so she wouldn't end up in a dumpster tomorrow morning. Perhaps Zay was around.

"How many was that?" she could hear Lucas ask with a giggle, his words were slurred and he was tripping on his feet as he attempted to stand up. She was just as drunk, probably, but she was better at hiding it. "I can't count with my fingers anymore, can you?"

Maya wasn't aware of the time because her vision was blurred so she couldn't check her phone. She needed to call Riley about something but she couldn't remember what, so she pushed that thought to the back of her mind. Getting drunk was an awful idea, now that Maya thought about it. Slipping up her secret to anyone in the vicinity would send her to jail, which was _not_ a good thing. She needed to keep her mouth shut.

"Lucas," she grumbled, feeling her head ache slightly as she tried to stand up from her spot. Her stomach stirred uncomfortably and she decided against doing so. She would probably end up barfing on Lucas before the night ended. "Lucas, can you stand up?"

While she was thinking to herself, Lucas had fallen to the ground and lied there in a sad puddle. Her vision was much too blurry to see if he was alive or not. A laugh erupted from her system and she began to smile. "Lucas, you dumbass. Stand up before I kick you in the groin."

He gave a groan in response and turned over, his cheek on the cold dirty wood of the bar floor. "Mmm," he said sleepily. "This floor is so comfy."

"Zay!" she yelled loudly over the music, looking for her rebellious friend. He soon came tumbling over, looking sadly at his best friend on the floor. "Get him up, won't you? I can't move or I have a feeling that I'm going to barf all over him. And I really don't think he'd enjoy that too much."

She could hear Zay mumbling under his breath but her thoughts wouldn't collect together where she would remember. Her head felt woozy and she was regretting coming to the bar in the first place.

"Ooh!" she said in her feminine voice and Zay looked over in surprise. Lucas was much too drunk to register her voice, but Zay was sober and his head turned curiously from the ground where he was squatting to help Lucas get up. "Mmm, Zay," her voice sung softly, her head dropping to her hand. This is why she didn't get drunk when she was lying, but it felt like too much work to put on her masculine voice _and_ be drunk. She was sure God would forgive her someday for slipping up.

"Matt?" he asked her, dropping Lucas' arm to the floor and standing up. He held his hand over her forehead to see if she had a fever. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Absolutely _wonderful_ ," she muttered, pulling at her wig irritably. She had decided that Lucas' clothes were much too big for her and that she would never wear them again. Also, her boob bandages were not doing good things to her body. All she wanted to do was sleep. "Zay, take me home, won't you?"

Zay turned his head to the side and called for Charlie, whom was also sober. He wasn't quite sure where Farkle had gone, Zay was sure he would eventually get a ride home. "Charlie," Zay muttered. "Pick up Lucas and take him to our dorm to sleep. I'll take Matt to his dorm. I need to talk to him about something."

Charlie gave a questioning look but didn't argue as he dragged Lucas out of the bar dramatically. Maya could hear the distinct sound of Lucas crying about something, she didn't really know what. Lucas was _totally_ an ugly drunk.

"There's something off about you," Zay said, grabbing Maya by her armpits and helping her up. "I'm determined to find out."

The alcohol was not doing good things to her. "How about I just tell you," she whispered as she held onto Zay. "I've always been an oddball here since day once, don't you find that odd?"

"So have I."

"Yessss," she slurred. "But you've always questioned me, haven't you? Whether I'm a boy, or a girl? That question has always lingered in the back of your mind, hasn't it? You know the answer, don't you?" she purred

Zay dropped her at her words, his eyes wide. Suddenly everything started to make sense. Her feminine voice, her small stature, her obvious resentment towards the male population. She was a _girl_ , and Lucas didn't even know that he was dorming with her. This was so many types of illegal. God, he normally wasn't the rule following type person, but this was some predicament Matt (or what?) was in.

And then Matt (or what?) fell limp against Zay's arms. It had been one weird night.

/

Okay, so she wasn't quite sure what was happening but this was common when she got ridiculously drunk. Her head ached like utter _shit_ and she felt like barfing. She had no idea where she was, first of all, until she remembered what her sheets smelled like. At least she was in her own bed.

But who took her here? Certainly not herself, she was much too drunk to even walk.

Her body sprang forward curiously, her head pounding as she groaned, threading her fingers through her long blonde hair. Something was off about the situation she was in, but she couldn't quite place what.

Oh _shit_ , where was her wig? Her head quickly snapped to the left as she saw Zay sitting next to her, her wig placed between his fingers. She could also see her bandages puddle beneath his feet and suddenly her face got really hot. Someone knew her secret already and she hadn't even been there for a solid week.

She didn't know that she would taste jail so soon.

Zay never was— _is_ —has never _been_ a rule follower. But she knew with the expression on his face that the predicament she was in was too far, even for _him_. She wasn't sure if the sirens were in her head or in reality. (God, why did she have to get drunk?)

"Hi," she muttered lowly, letting her deep voice control her. "Zay."

"Don't play me, Matt," Zay grumbled angrily, throwing the wig at her as if it were trash—as if _she_ were trash. "Or should I even call you that? What's your real name, huh?"

She coughed slightly and rubbed her neck uncomfortably. This had a whole lot of explaining to do. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Give it up!" Zay groaned loudly.

"I could just... be a dude that likes to wear bandages around my breast and whom has really long hair but doesn't want to cut it. You never know."

"You told me," he whispered, picking up the bandages from the floor and throwing them at her. "You told me last night, you know? When you were drunk, your words were slurred and you had no idea what you were saying and _you told me_. It all started to click, you know? Because of your feminine voice and your small body and the way your voice cracks sometimes. It all started to click and I can't believe I hadn't gotten it earlier."

She decided to give the act up and she sighed, her body slouching in defeat. He already knew, she herself had willingly given herself up. She had told him, and there was no escape from the consequences bound to come. "This is pathetic, you know?" she told him. "I didn't even manage to keep my identity for a week. Throw me at a party and I'm already giving myself up."

Zay sighed, running his hands over his face. In the short time he had known this guy— _girl_?— _person_ , he had taken a liking to him. He had no idea what to do. Surely the best course of action would be to inform the authorities or someone of a higher power. They would take the problem in their own hands.

But he knew he couldn't do that.

"I have to tell someone," he said, because he knew he _had_ to he just didn't know if he _should_. "This is really fucked up, dude, you know that? Like, even for me."

She breathed out heavily. "So you haven't told anyone yet?"

"No!" he yelped. "What am I supposed to say, _who_ am I supposed to tell? I have to tell Lucas, first of all. He doesn't even know he's dorming with a girl!"

Maya's hands went out in front of her quickly, attempting to soothe him. "Nonononono, Lucas _doesn't_ need to know. No one needs to know, you hear? This will be our little secret, okay?"

He rubbed his hands over his face again, looking overly stressed. She almost felt bad for him. "I don't know what to do, Matt. This is much too weird."

Only one person knew besides her and Riley, Zay hadn't told anyone. This was good, she told herself. She had someone to talk to, maybe. Help her if she needed it. But she needed to convince Zay to keep her secret in the first place—he was Blabbermouth Babineaux, after all. And she had only known Zay as long as she had been at the school (edging three days, what a failure), she didn't know if she could get him to trust her.

Especially with a secret like this. Things would go awry if more than only Zay knew. Riley was too far away from the school to blab her mouth, two keeping a secret would never go well. He was loyal to his best friend, wasn't he? Lucas had the right to know, but she _knew_ that he couldn't. Things would get weird even if he kept the secret.

She had to think of something, maybe hit close to home with Zay. She had heard about Zay from Lucas quite a bit, he traveled he said. Didn't really grow up in the right kind of family, squatted in houses until he got a scholarship for his voice.

(Now that she were thinking about it, her and Zay were probably the only ones who got what it was like to live off of scraps of food for more than weeks on end in the dreaded school.)

And it suddenly clicked.

"You get it, don't you?" she asked him quickly, ignoring the throbbing in her head. "You get why I took it, the scholarship, I mean. Despite the fact that I don't even fit the gender criteria. I can see it, Zay. You're just like me. You grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, watching your mom as she popped pills and your dad as he ran away. You know what it felt like to wake up every morning and wanting nothing more than for your father to be gone, wanting nothing more for _you_ to be gone."

His breath stilled.

She knew she had him. "And... and... getting an opportunity like _this_ , such a great scholarship—where you're actually _full_ for once in your life instead of living off of tips. Where you have all the books you need and your uniform that you need. And the opportunities you get, because college scouts will actually _blink_ at you now. You get what it's like, I know you do; you know why I took this and you know why it needs to be kept a secret."

Their breaths filled up the room. "Does... does anybody else know?"

She shook her head. "Only three people, I suppose. You, me, and my best friend Riley who lives in Greenwich Village."

"Okay," he nodded his head slowly. "Let's start off right, then. Properly, I suppose. Where I actually know your name."

"I'm Maya."

A loud sigh erupted from his chest, and Maya gulped. "Okay, Maya," he said, taking out his hand for her to shake. She took it tenderly and shook it once before he withdrew. "Your secret is safe with me."

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 **this was a lot to put in such a small chapter (this is about 700 words less than usual) but i needed to establish where someone she could trust knew her secret. without someone knowing, it would have been very stressful. now zay can help her - but he'll reluctant at first because the thought is like...very weird. anyway. the story is gonna be a bit more fast paced now. more drama instead of them skipping around, acting like nothing's wrong.**

 **keep in mind: everyone in this story has secrets. maya does, obviously. lucas does, zay, charlie, and farkle. as well as riley and in time, theyre all going to be revealed whether you know them now or not.**

 **alright! review:)))**


	6. the part where lucas fixes things

**anyway i have to explain something: we just finished part one of the story (chapters 1-5) so we're going into part two! this is lucas' part. so now it's centered around him instead of maya! since i have written in awhile i lost all of my plans for how this story was gonna go so i guess we're going in a different direction that i originally planned. not that different though, i remember some stuff. heads up! lucas is gonna find out soon. i'm also adding the days because it makes it less confusing for me.**

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Lucas had an awful, pounding headache. Sure, he was good at holding his alcohol—much better than the rest of his group. Farkle never dared touch the stuff, he claimed he wouldn't until he became the age of twenty-seven because that's the age your brain stops developing, apparently. Zay was a _huge_ lightweight and the first shot he would have, he'd be off his feet and tipsy already. Charlie was too busy reading his poems to girls to touch the stuff.

But, last night, was certainly a wild ride. He liked getting that little Matt all riled up, it kept him on his toes. And, Matt, too, was full of surprises. You'd never expect someone so pint sized to be able to hold up so much alcohol without barfing, which Lucas is sure he came close to.

He doesn't really remember much of the night previous, just a few hazy details. He remembers getting pretty fucking drunk with the little blond roommate and Charlie dragging him out of the bar and stuffing him in the backseat of his car. He really, truly, was a walking mess.

"I'm not dealing with this," he heard Farkle say to his right. He knew he wasn't in his bed, his bed normally reeked of week old food that he was too lazy to pick up. It smelled like Farkle, with a mix of romance. Ah, yes, he knew the smell. It was Charlie and Farkle's dorm. "You know how Lucas gets when he's drunk or has a hangover."

"Unf," he groaned loudly, squinting slightly to see the light flood his eyes; his headache only pounded harder. "What happened last night?"

"Lots of things," Charlie said, wiping away the sweat that beaded his forehead. "Some things I'm sure you wouldn't want to be repeated outside of this dorm room. You tried to make out with me last night," he stated.

" _Again_?" Lucas hiccuped, rolling over to his side. "Where's Matt? Is he doing alright after downing that many shots?"

Farkle looked at his phone again, waiting for a text from Zay. "Zay said he'd text me once he got things figured out with Matt to see if he was okay. But Matt isn't our concern right now, and I'm pretty certain he's okay. As far as I could tell, he could hold out longer than you could."

Lucas didn't bother rolling his eyes, or he'd be in an even worse headache. "That little guy? I figured he could hold only a shot."

"You thought wrong, obviously," Charlie rolled his eyes. "You should stop challenging your new roommates to drinking battles or take them out to parties their second day in. No wonder they run the first week."

"Dick," Lucas grumbled under his breath, pulling Farkle's sheets over his head to drain out the light. "Leave me alone for at least twenty four hours so I can gain my balance. You're lucky I knocked myself up last night, or I'd beat your ass, Charlie."

/

 **Day 4:**

Lucas managed to completely neglect his classes for the entirety of the day before, staying coddled and cozied up in Farkle's bed until his headache managed to dim down, even if only a little. Farkle, too, made him sleep on the floor because he could barely move until the next morning, when he was sure that the hangover soon started to leave. He could open his eyes now.

"You should go back to your dorm," Farkle stated gruffly, helping Lucas get off the floor. "You're doing better now and you should probably apologize to Matt for getting him _that_ intoxicated last night just because you have an inflated ego."

So, Lucas set out to his dorm room. He didn't care much for little friends schedule, but he was pretty sure he had a free period. Sure, he was missing a few classes but he could just get his mom to sign off on it, if he wanted to.

He swiped his card once and waited for the green lights to appear, and once they did, he opened the door only to see Matt on the floor, dead asleep, and his best friend Zay reading a book in the corner of the room. "There you are!" Lucas said, coming towards Zay and plucking the book out of his hands. "I was wondering where you were. Did the alcohol really effect the little guy that bad?"

"S—he took in a lot more than you, from what I witnessed. She's still going through the hangover."

Lucas scoffed, the fact that Zay used a female pronoun completely skimming over his head. Zay thanked God once. "Okay, we've come aware that he can hold alcohol better than me. Can we get over that, now? We get it."

"Why aren't you in class?" he asked him.

"Just woke up from a nap, and feeling refreshed! Plus, I can just tell my mom to talk to the principal and he'll sign off my absences, anyway. It's not that big of a deal."

"I find it kind of funny," Zay suddenly snapped, grabbing the book out of his friends hands, "how you use your mom to get whatever you want and get away with whatever you want. Don't you find it kind of funny that your mom is having sex with the principal just so you can stay in this school? I find it kind of funny."

Lucas' eyes widened at Zay's sudden harsh attitude towards him, which is something he'd only expect from Matt. "Whoa!" he said, throwing his hands up in the air in a kind-of surrender. "Where did all of this hostility come from?"

Zay groaned loudly, plopping back down to the floor and letting the book fall from his grasp. "Sorry," he said, and Lucas could tell he really was. Zay turned his head only slightly to see the sleeping figure of Matt on the floor and let his head hit back on the white wall. "I'm just under a lot of stress right now, it seems."

Lucas knit his eyebrows together, peering down at his best friend. "Since two days ago when we last saw each other at the club? You seemed just fine. Did Matt do something to you?"

"Yes—I mean, no. I don't know, I'm confused, is all. It's nothing really, I promise."

"Are you gay?" he had to ask, even if it was inappropriate. Because he wanted his friend to know that if he was gay, or whatever, that was okay. He didn't care, not really. Plus, Farkle was gay and him and Farkle could go out if he wanted to. "I mean, if you are—that's okay, you know? Or if you're bisexual, or pansexual. Or something, I don't care; that stuff doesn't matter to me, if you think it does."

" _Wh_ —no!" Zay sputtered out, surprised at Lucas' sudden topic of conversation. "I'm not gay, and if I was, trust that I would tell you. Which I'm not, like, by the way. And, no, it doesn't have to do with Matt. I'm just stressed about school, is all, so don't worry about me. You should probably talk to your mom and catch up on your missing assignments."

Lucas breathed out, his head turned to the side and peering at his friend curiously. "Yeah, I will," he said to his friend, guiding him out of his dorm. "You should probably go to class, though, if you're stressed about it," he stated, and Zay nodded his head in agreement.

"I _totally_ need the distraction," he gruffed loudly.

Lucas' eyebrows knit together in confusion, clearly mixed up with Zay's sudden weirdness. "Sure," Lucas prompted. He waved his friend goodbye and shut the door, looking over his shoulder to peer at his small, blond friend that was cuddled up on the floor like a complete mess.

He sat on his bed, almost missing the reek and the plushness of his comforter, and pulled out his phone. He looked through his favorites quickly, and clicked on his mother's contact name with his thumb. The phone rang twice before it was answered, and a sweet southern voice came through the other end. "Hello?"

"Hey, momma," Lucas said, looking over in front of him to make sure that Matt was still asleep. Yes, good, he was as conked out as he could ever be. "How are you?"

Lucas could almost hear his mom smile on the other end and he smiled, too. "Oh, Lukey! Dear, I'm good! How are you? I haven't talked to you in days."

He gulped loudly and swallowed his saliva. "I'm good," he almost lied. "I was just wondering if I could ask you for a favor, is all. That's why I called you, and so I could hear your beautiful voice, too."

His mother tilted her head fondly to her side, and adjusted her phone. "That's sweet, Lucas. What'd you do this time?"

He closed his eyes, only for a moment, and breathed out. "I was, like, initiating this new boy in my dorm. Um, I took him out to this.. party, and we got a little riled up, is all. I, kind of, was conked out for a few days and missed some classes. That's all, and I was wondering if you could... talk to the principal about it so I don't get suspension or expulsion?"

The line was silent for a moment and Lucas almost thought his mother hung up on him before she sighed out loudly, and ran a hand through her hair messily. She rubbed her temple slightly, and thought for a moment. "We moved, you and I, for a reason, you know?"

"I know," he said softly, after a moment or two of silence.

She nodded her head, and moved her hair out of her face. "Your father," she said softly, like she was talking to herself. He almost couldn't hear her. "Nathan had a temper," she stated. "And we moved thousands of miles away from your childhood home to get away from that temper, you know?"

"I know," he said again, but softer and if you listened close enough, you could hear his voice break.

She gulped once, looking at her hand. "I just—I like it here in New York, and if you're expelled from this school, then we have nowhere to live, Lucas. Do you hear me? I mean _nowhere_ and we'll have to go back to the slides or your father, whom we tried so hard to get away from. We're so far away, Lucas, and I like it this way. Can you keep it this way?"

He ran his free hand over his face and he sighed out loudly, knowing that he fucked up. God, he was a total ignorant and shitty son. No way in _hell_ would he ever make his mother go back to his father, but sometimes he got a little out of hand and he had to pay the price. Sure, if his mom talked to the principal, and she liked this new guy in her life, she did, he'd be on the easy end of the wrath. But, he didn't want to use his mom like that, use something good in her life for once to his advantage. Sure, he was a douche but not _that_ big of one. And, he thought, it was likely better to neglect the fact that his father called him a few days ago.

"Okay," he said finally, "I know I fucked up, trust that I do. And I know I told you that I would shape up, and I know that I completely failed to do so. But, there's this new kid in my dorm and he's scared, I bet, because he's at least a foot shorter than I am, you know? And he's got a quick temper too, but I bet if I tried real hard enough that I think I could be good for him. If I tried, and I want to try. I don't want to put you in a difficult position, that's the last thing I would ever want to do."

Lucas could hear his mother rustle her sheets slightly, and grab a brush from under her bathroom sink. She nodded her head, even if he couldn't see her do so. "Okay," she said. "I'll talk to the principal about it, but we can't keep this up. I can only push him so far, and I don't want him to snap and kick you out of school. You need to fix what ever problem you have right now, alright? I'll talk to him, and I'm sure things will go smoothly but I need you to fix.." she stopped for a moment, " _this_."

"Alright," he breathed out. "I will, I'll fix it. No more skipping school, I promise that I'll try."

"A promise isn't good enough," she said to him. "You need to commit, because we can't keep asking the principal for favors, alright?"

"Alright."

Silence ensued between the two before his mother finally spoke up again. "I like it here, and so do you. Let's keep it that way. I've got to go, Lucas, but I hope you really do fix things. I love you."

"I love you too, momma."

Then, the line fell and Lucas threw his phone across his bed and collapsed on his back, groaning.

 **Day 5:**

"Thanks," Matt said to him once he woke up for the day, the first words he heard from his little friend since three days prior. "Thanks for getting me over the top drunk to the point where I couldn't even get off the ground." He continued, but moreso under his breath, as if he were talking to himself. "AnIalsomngedtorevealsumdeepdarksecrets."

Lucas was too tired to interpret his short friend's words and groaned, rolling over to his side as he shut his alarm clock up. "I don't even want to wonder what you just said," he grunted, shutting his eyes tightly. Matt was off to his right, putting his belongings in his bookbag.

"Good," he said, clearing his throat and stuffing his books into his small bag. "It should be known, I thought, that I am _not_ going to any more parties with you. I have clearly caused enough destruction in my life in a period of five days than any one average person does in a lifetime."

Lucas nodded his head, and rolled over to his other side. "I'm not going to anymore parties with myself, too."

"That makes no sense," Matt pointed out, grabbing something from under her bed.

He put his head in his pillow and squeezed his eyes tightly, attempting to rest for at least a few more minutes before he's forced to get out of bed by either his short friend or Farkle. "It did in my head," he pointed out. He finally gave up, seeing no point in the extra two minutes and grudgingly got out of bed, running his fingers through his hair. He needed a shower, he knew that much.

Matt shook his head at the taller one and threw his backup on his shoulder, tightening it once before he set out for the door, not before Lucas grabbed his hand and tugged him back to his corner of the room. "What do you think you're doing?" he snapped, tugging his hand away from the tanner, and taller, friend.

"Look," he said wryly, looking at his hands and not at Matt's face. "This, what I'm doing—I mean.. Look. We obviously had a rough start."

"No shit," Matt said under his breath, unsurprised. God, was he making this hard.

Lucas shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair again, clearly unnerved. "I messed up, the other night, y'know—inviting you to that party. Clearly you weren't equipped for a situation like that—"

"Yet, I managed to take in more than you, so let's try this again."

"—stop interrupting me! Okay, we get it! The short little new blond could hold more alcohol that the seasoned, tall, bulk, attractive—"

Matt interrupted the taller one with a hand, giving him a look. "Is this going somewhere? Because I have places to be, you know."

Lucas shook his head, wringing his hands together. "Right, right, sorry. Anyway, the point is that we had a rough start, due to me. I'd like to start over, if that's okay. New beginnings, and all that. Let's just say you completely remove the rumors and thoughts you've had about me the past few days, and I'll do the same. We'll start anew, it's like we'll be strangers. And we'll pretend the party never happened."

Matt gulped, and looked at the floor. "I can't—do that. With some people, I can't."

"Can you do it with me?" he asked him.

Matt thought for a moment, and clasped his hands together tightly. "I suppose I can. We'll start off new," he said to him, looking at the taller one in the eyes. "Forget the party ever happened, and we'll be like strangers, like you said."

Lucas nodded his head. That went a lot better than he had thought. Good, good, this was the beginning to a better start. He would make his momma proud, he promised her. No more getting into trouble, and no way in _hell_ would he go back to Texas, he would never do that to her. "Good," he said with a smile that could light up a thousand cities. He held out his hand for the small one to shake. "I'm Lucas," he stated, as if he were introducing himself to a stranger.

"I'm Matt," he said back, taking his hand in his and shaking it, as well.

And, god, he had soft hands.

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 **sweet! review and fave! this story is actually going somewhere now**


	7. the part where lucas cleans his room

**guys! i met the gmw cast and it was such a smiley xp! this chapter is _not_ a filler chapter. it's establishing the new matt/lucas relationship now that they "started over". theyre going to be "starting over" more than once in this fic.**

 **this chapter was esp difficult for me since this is in lucas' point of view not mayas im so dumb ANYWAY! i keep forgetting that in lucas' pov shes a BOY.**

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 **Day 7:**

"Okay," Matt said under his breath, picking up the molding banana that had grossly infused to the floor. "This is gross, with a capital G. And disgusting. I mean, I'm a slob, to a certain extent, but this is disturbing me. Gross. Nasty."

Lucas sighed out loudly, rubbing his temples together. "Okay," Lucas muttered, throwing his body against his bed. "Is that what being friends with you is like? Can we start over, you know, again? Without you being an annoying pain in the ass?"

Matt threw the banana his way and Lucas shrieked, falling off of his bed. "I live here too, you know that? I mean, I'd like to live in a place where I could breathe, instead of clogging my nose with nasty pizza that had been eaten by rats three weeks ago."

"You've been here for a week," Lucas stated, finding comfort on the carpet of his floor. "How would you know that rats ate the pizza three weeks ago? It was _two_ weeks ago, if you must know."

The shorter one's eye twitched dangerously and he clenched his teeth together. "And you think I'm the pain in the ass? There's something called mutualism, y'know." Matt sat down in his bed, parallel to Lucas from across the room. "You've never had a roommate that pushes you to, y'know, clean your room, or do something with your life?" he asked kind of sarcastically, but they both knew he meant it.

"Right, rude," Lucas' eyebrow twitched in annoyance. He scrunched his nose together, collecting the smell of that apple that looked grossly brown that hung under his bed. "I mean, no. I've never really had a roommate now that I think about it, they've always left in the first few days—"

"I wonder why."

"—and it's obvious that you're a permanent deal, so I guess I'm gonna have to deal with you and your...constant nagging."

Matt rubbed his hand over his face strongly and groaned out in a loud manner, clearly racked up with annoyance. Like, sure, he could get used to the nasty stench that perfumed throughout the room in a matter of days, but that wasn't exactly the ideal situation. He'd rather not be immune to his nasty gym socks and the rat poop lacing the floor. "There's something we're gonna have to do about this," he stated in a matter of fact tone, and Lucas _knew_ that tone. That was the tone his mama used when she demanded he did something, not asked, _demanded_.

God, there was no way he was getting out of this.

"You're gonna make me clean, aren't you?" he grunted loudly, falling over to his other side so he would face the wall, not looking at his short friend's face.

"Exactly. The keyword is _you_. I'm not touching anything that has been sitting out for over three days or is infused with the ground, or even molding. Or if it smells."

"So you mean everything?" he asked sarcastically.

He thought for a moment, looking around Lucas' side of the room. Granted, Matt wasn't the cleanest, he had his fair sure of gross ventures and disgusting array of clothes strewn on the floor but Lucas' problem was much too worse than he could ever reach, even in his hometown (with Riley, since she always kept the room clean, maybe).

"Yes," Matt finally responded, his hands clasped in front of him. "Yes, okay," he said again. "This is what we're gonna do, and I mean what we're gonna do. No buts, ifs, and ands. When I say we're doing something, we're going to do it and when I say we're I mean _you_. First, we're gonna need a few things. We are _not_ touching anything unless we want a bacterial infection and to die."

"You're being overdramatic," Lucas stated gruffly, getting up from his bed to put on his shoes and shirt.

"Well, we just got back from classes so you're going to have to deal with me being a bit overdramatic. And tell me I'm overdramatic when you're in the hospital and your father is crying at your deathbed."

Lucas flinched at the mention of his father, but Matt didn't seem to notice anything so he didn't mention it. Besides, Matt didn't have a clue about the relationship and situation he was in with his father, so he wasn't at fault. Lucas was sure that if Matt did, he wouldn't dare bring him up in a conversation.

"We're going to the store," Matt said to him, scurrying over to his side of the room in some sort of jog-run like thing, which is why Lucas assumed that was how all short people ran. He looked through his bag, while Lucas brushed his fingers through his hair to make the mess he called a 'do' presentable. Once Matt found what he was looking for, he smiled triumphantly and beckoned Lucas to follow him, leading through the door.

Matt had insisted on driving, but Lucas absolutely _refused_ because he was certain that his short little feet wouldn't be able to reach the gas pedal (I'm not _that_ fucking short!). He grabbed his keys from his friends hand and hung them far above his head, so it would be basically impossible for him to reach. After a petty and useless argument, the shorter one finally grumbled his way into the passenger side of the car and Lucas smiled in victory.

They drove to the local store, a few blocks down from campus. Lucas pulled up into a parking spot a few spots down and parked sloppily into one of the spots, and smiled cheekily. Matt grumbled in an annoyed matter and stomped out of the car, marching his way towards the front of the store.

Him, being all fed up with his fury and all for not being able to drive the car, refused to look left in right—for absolutely foolish reasons, if you asked Lucas. He didn't see that car coming from the right, speeding way too much for being in a store zone. And, it's not like the driver was paying attention, anyway, of course—they were texting.

It all happened in a millisecond but Lucas quickly grabbed Matt out of the way before the metal of the car skimmed his nose, turning it a bright orange color. Matt gasped loudly, turning around to Lucas in surprise. And then, as per usual, he spit out his usual shit so it wouldn't come off like he cared.

"I saw that _coming_ ," the blond one said.

Lucas stood there for a moment, completely dumbfounded. Didn't he just save his friends _life_ , and he's acting like this? Sure, Lucas was a pain in the ass sometimes, but not _this_ much pain in the ass where he deserved this kind of slander. "You almost just _died_ , you jackass. That car was going to pancake you."

"You really think I'd walk into oncoming traffic?" Matt asked incredulously, as if Lucas were serious.

Lucas raised his eyebrows expectantly, as if he were expecting for Matt to be joking. "Are you on your man period, or something?" Matt closed his eyes tightly, suddenly, and breathed slowly. Lucas could see his hands twitch slightly, like he was trying to reach for something. "Are you okay? Did your liver burst? What the fuck is happening? Are you bleeding? Did the car hit you? What—?"

"Shut _up_ , won't you?" Matt grumbled angrily, except it came out as more of a soft whisper. "I'm _fine_ , you dingus. I was just—er—having a panic attack. Yes, there you go. A panic attack."

"That was sure a short panic attack," he stated in a matter of fact tone, giving the small one a look.

"Shut up you tall mongrel. Let's just get in the store without either one of us dying, get what we need, go back home and clean your nasty side of the room, and then go to _bed_. Sounds like a plan. Yeah? Yeah. Let's get hopping."

Lucas decided to ignore his moody mood swings and just go with whatever he was saying, because clearly if he didn't, he'd be in hell. Matt walked through the store briskly, suddenly in a chipper mood and it was almost as if he was skipping through the aisles. He stopped in front of the candy aisle longingly and then looked back at Lucas with a smile.

"I'm getting candy," he said as if there were no argument to be made. He filed through the aisle quickly and scanned over everything, constantly coming back for the kitkats.

"This is what we came to the store for?" Lucas had to ask.

"Let me get my _fucking_ kitkats," Matt sent daggers in his direction and then returned his face to a cheeky smile, turning back towards the kitkat cart and picking out the super size before smelling it once, smiling. "Now that we have my kitkats, let's go get the rest."

He filed through the rest of the store pretty quickly, picking up a febreeze and putting it in Lucas' hands. He went through the rest of the cleaning supplies and stacked up a broom, some rags, a sponge, gloves, a trashcan and trash bags, soap, and the like in his hands. Lucas almost toppled over from the weight, looking at Matt in an annoyed matter through the cracks of the supplies he was holding.

"One more thing," the blond one stated, turning to the next aisle and picking up two clawers, so they could pick up various foods without having to touch them. He held them in his hand, not handing them to Lucas and he sighed out in relief.

Afterwards, Matt managed to ponder to the feminine hygiene aisle for unknown reasons to Lucas and Lucas looked at his blonde friend in an aloof manner as he pondered upon the Tampex or UKotex. "Erm," he muttered under his breath. "What is this for?"

"My girlfriend," Matt stated without looking up from the box of tampons he was holding.

"Like you have one," Lucas snorted.

"Actually," Matt snapped suddenly, his head craning towards Lucas' face. "These are for when I beat your face senseless and you'll have to plug your nose since it'll be so bloody."

Lucas' eyes widened widely, shutting his mouth shut as he noticed the deadly look in his eye. Matt smiled, then, and led him to the front of the store.

"Why didn't we get a shopping cart?" he grumbled out, adjusting his shoulder so he could carry the rest to the front of the store. Matt ignored his incoherent mumbles to himself and led the taller and tanner one to the front, setting his clawers on the beltway. Lucas then proceeded to put the rest of the junk Matt had instructed him to carry on the beltway, watching it move.

Matt payed for it and picked up the bags, dragging them along the store floor. Lucas picked up one of them and threw it behind his shoulder, also holding the broom in his other hand. "Seems like we're stock full on cleaning supplies. You think we'll last a day in a clean dorm?" Matt asked.

"Not a chance," he responded back in a goofy matter. "But it's the worth the try isn't it?"

Once they arrived home and back in their dorm, Matt displayed the cleaning supplies on the floor, on the side of the room that actually had a the correct color of carpet. He reached to grab his hair, as if intending to pull it back and then jerked his arms away shaking his hands softly. "Okay," he said, peering at the array of cleaning supplies on the floor.

Before they could begin to clean their room, Lucas heard a soft tap on the doorway and the door suddenly turned open, revealing his funny friend Zay. "Zay!" Lucas said in a too-happy of a tone than you'd expect. He needed someone else than Matt to keep him company.

"Hey dude," he said, coming forward to greet him in a bro hug. "Other dude," he muttered, nodding in Matt's direction. Matt gave him a tight smile in response and moved his head slightly, gesturing towards the door as if he were begging for him to leave. "I see that Lucas is finally coming around and cleaning his side of the room, thank God."

"Against my will," Lucas joked halfheartedly, lightening up the obvious tense mood, though he didn't know why. "Why'd you come over?"

"Just need to talk to Matt, that's all," he said, holding the coffee in his hand tightly. Matt eyes him wearily, clenching his teeth.

"This can't wait?" he asked him in an annoyed matter.

Zay shot him a look and Matt eventually dropped his shoulders, following him out of the door. Lucas stayed inside, captivated with the cleaning supplies, some of them he had never seen in his life. He barely payed attention to the conversation, but he could collect little pieces and bits.

"Identity...you know...know," that was Zay.

"Concerned...asshole...frankly," there was a pause, since they seemed to talk in whispers. It continued after a moment. "Farkle...shame," that was Matt for sure, except it seemed a bit feminine. He didn't let it bother him too much. Matt continued to talk. "Principal...buddy buddy!"

"Guilt...consume...survive..." now that was Zay again. What on _earth_ were they talking about. He could hear the rumble of footsteps as Zay left him at the doorframe and he waited a few moments to come back inside.

"What was that about Farkle's asshole and being sent to the principal?" he asked him. He smiled in aloof matter, and tilted his head to the side.

"Ah, nothing, I promise. Nothing too big." Matt nodded promptly, pondering back to the cleaning supplies. "Let's get back to his," he smiled tightly with his lips.

First, he picked up the plastic gloves, picking two for himself and then handing it to Lucas, so he could get two for himself. Once they had adjusted the gloves accordingly, (Matt's being too big, while Lucas' were too small), Lucas set them down in the corner of the room, and looked at Matt expectantly.

He then grabbed the garbage can and put two trash bags inside, just incase. He handed two rags to Lucas, two sponges, and a thing of soap. He also grabbed the clawers off of the ground and handed one to Lucas, also finding some goggles from chemistry class in his bookbag and handed one to Lucas.

"Is this all really necessary?"

"You won't regret it," he stated back, testing the clawer to see if it functioned correctly. He turned around to face him with a cheeky smile, and gestured towards his side of the room. "You first."

"I can't," Lucas suddenly gagged, registering the smell.

"You sleep there every night," he stated, giving him a look. His eye twitched.

"I don't know _how_ ," he stated, but cautiously stepped up to the muddied, pizza filled, banana reeked, side of the room. There was a sock pinned to the wall with some kind of goo, and Lucas didn't want to know what kind. Lucas held the trash bag in his hand tightly, looking around the side of his room.

Matt was right. It was Gross, with a capital G. He picked up the banana with the claw and it turned to a puddle of goo between the metal of the contraption. Lucas gagged. Matt excused himself out of the room for a moment so he could go to the supplies closet on the opposite side of the hall to get a shovel.

He came back and, against her right judgement and will, scooped up the banana goop while Lucas turned his head away, opening his trash bag for him to put in the banana goop. Matt then turned to the wall where the gym sock was hanging awkwardly and peeled it off with a hard tug, noting how the sock was stuck to the wall because of some peanut butter. Gross.

He decided to throw that away, too, since he'd never be using it in gym. Never again. Lucas picked up some pizza from under his bed that seemed to have too recent of nibblings on the crust and threw it in his trash bag that lied beside him. Matt was on the other side of his bed, filing through three month old papers that scattered the floor. "You stay here during the summer?" he asked. "Don't you have a family to go back to, like your mom?"

"Not much of a family," Lucas said, tense with the mention of his broken family. He was, also, scrubbing at his brown head of his bed that showed sparks of white. "How about you? Are you going to stay for the summer?"

"I have friends to go back to," he said, crumpling up the useless papers and putting them into his trash. "Even though it seems like I don't, according to you. And a mom. I have a great pseudo mother and pseudo father to come back to, too. Not a real father, but it's rare to come by those nowadays."

"Agreed," Lucas said, picking at the dirt caking on the head of his bed. They left the conversation at that, not daring to venture into the subject of shitty fathers and broken pasts. After Lucas had finally finished scrubbing his dirt ridden headboard with some soap and water and maybe the help of bleach he found in the closet across the hall where it turned a pearly white, Matt had already put his gross sheets into the wash and they were already being dried.

Lucas grabbed the broom, picking up his mattress to pat it clean until he saw something scurry along the dark floor, and he screamed in a girl-ish matter. Matt's head whipped around from the wall, where he was picking off clothes and pastes that had managed to accumulate. "What was that?" he yelled.

"I - I don't know! What the _fuck_!" he screamed loudly, backing up and hitting his head on the other side of the room. "Remind me to never get this dirty again."

"Reminded," Matt shook his head, looking under the bed for a moment, before his eyes widened falling backwards to the other side of the room, settling next to Lucas on the floor where he screamed loudly. "That was a fucking rat!"

"A rat," Lucas breathed. "I was kidding about the rat eating the pizza two weeks ago! I thought I just ate some of it and then forgot about it I can't believe I..."

"You didn't..." Matt gasped.

"I won't even say it, let's pretend that it never happened."

Lucas looked to his right, where Matt was sitting in an aloof manner, arms in front of his chest as if he were protecting himself from an oncoming attack. He then looked to his left and grabbed the clawer, scooching his butt towards his bed. He reached under there blindly, grabbing whatever he found first and shrieking as he pulled it out from under by the tail. Lucas didn't even bother looking at it before Matt opened the window and grabbed the clawer from his hand, throwing out the window.

"Sorry if you die!" Matt called after it, watching it hit the pavement. After a moment of waiting, the rat got up without injury, and scurried away outside, as Matt and Lucas watched the few people outside scream in terror from the rodent crawling around everywhere. People attempted to hit it with books and bags, but failed as it scurried into the grass, which was cleared quickly.

A snort escaped Lucas after a moment wait, and soon, he was over on the floor laughing. Matt stood still for a moment before he soon quickly followed, the two toppled on the floor in a giggling fit, at the prospect of what just happened.

They continued to laugh for a good few minutes until their stomachs hurt, and they lied on the floor, tired and gross and grime covered and they smiled, because they didn't know why or how but they were happy as they could ever be. Just the two of them, cleaning and scrubbing until their arms hurt and finding rodents until beds and talking about their broken families, but it had been a good day that day, no matter how much they fought.

They waited for a few more moments before Matt got up from his position, helping the much taller and heavier Lucas from his spot before toppling over again because of his lack of strength. Lucas snorted and got up from his spot on his own, helping his blond friend up. They stretched for a moment, before continuing to venture under his bed.

Luckily, there were no more animals. Just a couple of snacks the rat seemed to nibble on that seemed to be more than a month old. As Lucas continued to go through under his bed, Matt left to finish the wall. They worked together on the carpet, grabbing a vacuum from the closet and swiping up anything they hadn't picked up. Matt then went to the laundry room and grabbed his now dry sheets, giving them to him as he lied them out on his bed sloppily.

The picture of him and his friends hung above his bed sloppily, but lacked any grime and you could see everyone smile, even Farkle smiled with his teeth. The shorter one then handed the taller one a febreeze can, spraying anything they could. Lucas sprayed atop his covers and under his bed, while Matt sprayed on the walls and the floor, spraying between every crevice.

After a few hard hours (or days? that's what it felt like) of work, they stepped back in awe, gawking at the sight. It wasn't a perfect image, no, you could hardly come back with the mess of Lucas' side, but they tried as best as they could. The carpet was still slightly stained, but was greatly fading and you could actually tell the color. The headboard was sparkly clean, due to the bleach, and the covers were sloppily put on. The walls were stark, and the best part was that there were no gym socks lounging around nor were there any expired foods in the corners and under his lamp.

Lucas invited Charlie, Zay, and Farkle over so they could gawk at the sight, too. Once they came over, they all applauded Matt for his handiwork and Zay clapped his back sharply, before Matt gave him a sharp smile.

As Lucas' friends filed out of the room, Lucas turned to Matt with a smile that could give a thousand suns shame and he pulled him into a hug.

"Today sucked," he said. "It totally did, but you made it fun and worth it, so thank you."

And Matt smiled.

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 **holy shit this chapter was long. i think this has been my biggest chapter yet. there was a lot of stuff i put in here for comedic effect but also to establish the lucas/matt (not maya, but kind of?) friendship. ultimately, when lucas finds out, their relationship will obviously be different than the platonic relationship presented here. it's going to have to develop, but every relationship has to have platonic undertones! which is what im giving you**

 **things you need to know: in this chapter, maya was on her period. i had to present that, and im sure i did it awfully, in a way that lucas didnt know but the reader could kind of know**

 **also, youll know the zay/maya conversation in later chapters around when lucas figures out or near the end (i havent figured it out yet) because it _will_ affect their relationship, just as every aspect will when he finds out. i already have that scene written out.**

 **review and fave!**


	8. the part where lucas needs a tutor

**heyo! PLEASE rec me books...im desperate**

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 **Day 14:**

Sure, Lucas was no scholar, and really, truly, he had gotten accepted into Elizabeth Academy with a sports scholarship. And, if Lucas thought about it, he was sure he could do better. He had almost gotten expelled from this school, what was it now? Six times, and he was barely hanging on with that scholarship. And, so, he should've expected this.

But he didn't, because he got accepted for sports, not academics. It happens during Math, there's a crackle over the intercom for a moment, which indicates the principal is going to speak. But the faulty systems always took a moment to work, so you'd wait there in dread, hoping the principal didn't call you down and expel you for a misdemeanor. Matt sat next to Lucas' left, who was currently gnawing at his pencil in a bored manner.

Once the speakers started to work, the principal only spoke six words, six that ate Lucas alive. "Lucas Friar, to the office. Immediately." Lucas was sent down to the office on a common occurrence, but it was never during class hours. The principal usually had enough respect for the students to wait before and after classes. He had heard rumors, of some sort, about the students who had gotten called during class hours. That meant it was urgent, and if they were in trouble, they never came back.

Lucas rubbed his jaw, and gave a pointed look at Matt who was repressing a smile. Matt jumped at any opportunity to make fun of Lucas. He saw the look in the teachers eye, and decided to take all of his supplies with him. He hadn't exactly known what he had done, but if he were to be called in the middle of class, he knew it was bad.

He ambled his way down the empty halls, avoiding any classrooms that had doors open. They'd all look at him, wide eyed. The boys in the school were desperate for any type of gossip, since they were completely away from any girl interaction, besides the few teachers. Once he finally made his way to the principals office, he sat in the waiting chair for three minutes and sixteen seconds—he counted.

One of the secretaries peered over the counter, giving him a pointed look. She shook her head, and pointed to the principal's door, indicating that he was ready. Lucas shook his hands steadily, biting the inside of his cheek. He had gone over what he had done in the past week. Cleaned his room, that surely wasn't of harm, was it? He had hung out with Matt, and Zay too. He went to baseball practice everyday, what was so bad? He didn't even know.

Maybe it was something good, he thought. Maybe he was to get a prize for staying out of trouble—for a whole week, too! Yes, the principal would award him for something like that, wouldn't he? He would, right?

Once Lucas entered his office, the principal, whom was named Mr. Yancy, snapped his attention from the book he was engrossed in and stared the student down. Mr. Yancy was a big man, who used his stature to intimidate any walking boy in the school. Elizabeth Academy was successful for a reason, Lucas remembered Mr. Yancy told him one time. We have rules, and rules that we shall keep. You are no exception because I am in affiliation with your mother.

"Friar," he grumbled, pushing his round glasses up to his face. "Sit down," he waved his hand aimlessly, turning back to the dusty papers he had in his hands. Lucas did as told, pulling out a chair for himself and sitting down. Mr. Yancy sighed out loudly, giving Lucas a stare, setting down the papers to the right of him. "You must be wondering why I invited you today."

Invited, Lucas thought. That's a good word.

"As you are well aware," he continued, "I never take a student out of class, so I won't have to interfere with time spent in the classroom. But, this matter is more pressing than most. Do you understand that you came to this school on a sports scholarship?"

Lucas nodded his head wearily, unaware of where this conversation was leading.

"Yes, you came here on a sports scholarship because your athleticism was remarkable. Don't let that compliment go to your head, because I'm not finished." At that, the smile on Lucas' face quickly faded with every beat of his heart. "When you are granted a sports scholarship, you need to understand that your purpose at this school isn't only sports. We expect that you do well in school, too. Is that too hard to understand?"

Now he got where this was going.

"School is for learning," Mr. Yancy continued, shuffling around the papers on his desk, as if he were looking for something. "Not for skipping around like a bumbo with alcohol in your system. Or flashing your..." he stopped for a moment, "...goods to the general public. As of before, I have been able to excuse your misdemeanors because you were— _are_ my star athlete. Because sports are so ingrained into our society, you represent this school. And not for the better, Friar."

This had something to do with his grades, he knew it.

"Your grades are a disgrace, Friar," which confirmed Lucas' suspicions. "It's a surprise I haven't expelled you before, which I should have. I am aware that I am in a relationship with your mother, but that does _not_ give you an excuse to fall behind in your classes. And may I say? You have neglected to do _any_ school work these past two weeks. May I ask why?"

Mr. Yancy's face was stoic, and gave Lucas no clue to what he was thinking. Well shit, Lucas thought, this is the time I get expelled. And, it's not really like he had any excuse as to why he had fallen behind the past two weeks. There was no excuse, apparently, to fall behind when you're in Elizabeth Academy. It was one of the most prestigious schools in the nation.

And, wasn't it two weeks ago that Matt popped up into his life? Sure, it was a rough start in the beginning—Matt wasn't much of a people person. But they had grown close, at least Lucas assumed so. Was he really spending that much time with Matt where he completely forgot about school?

His voice caught in his throat, not knowing what to say. "Is it bad that I don't know how to respond?"

"Yes," Mr. Yancy said, a face full of disinterest.

Lucas shook his head for a moment, running his hand through his hair. "I mean...it sure is an honor to be named the star athlete of this school, but also some sort of a burden to name me the face of this school. That comes with nerves, doesn't it? Give me a break."

Mr. Yancy shuffled through his papers once more, finally pulling out a crinkled paper. Lucas couldn't peer around and see what was on it without being caught, so he sat still. No use, anyway, since Mr. Yancy handed him the paper anyway. Lucas snatched the paper from his hands, and flattened it out, peering at the ink.

"Those are your grades, Friar. It is your senior year, and you've been here since you were a sophomore. I am aware that you don't need a break, you have _no_ nerves. I've seen you play, stop being foolish. I am in need of a better excuse for your constant dropping grades."

The paper was lined with different letters, the most consistent one was D. A few F's speckled the paper as well, and one C-. "There's nothing I can say," he sighed out loud. The paper lied in his left hand, while his right hand ran over his face in an exasperated matter. "I know sports is no excuse, but I've been so caught up in baseball lately."

"What about your time in between classes and sports?" he pressed harshly, his hands clasping together so his elbows rested on his desk. "Your mother has lightly informed me of your whereabouts when you aren't attending school. If you persist that is the reason why you are falling behind, I see no excuse not to expel you right now. Underage drinking is illegal, young man."

Lucas' eyebrows raised quickly, his mouth agape. He had no idea how to respond to Mr. Yancy's accusations, because he wasn't per se, _wrong_. He closed his eyes for a moment, drinking in the air with a quick gulp. "What do you want to do?" he asked him.

"Good question," My. Yancy responded, shuffling around something. Lucas couldn't see, since his eyes were still closed. "What I _want_ to do is expel you." His words struck Lucas in the chest and Lucas inhaled sharply. It was his senior year, and his grades were falling greatly. He couldn't imagine leaving behind Zay, Farkle, and Charlie. And Matt, too, after they had grown so close. What would he say to his baseball team? Sorry guys, I quit. My grades suck and I got expelled and now I'm going to have to live in Texas with my abusive father. God, he really sucked at keeping his mother happy.

"However," Mr. Yancy continued, as if he hadn't stopped, "what I want to do and what I _will_ do are two, completely different things. My interests are purely for this school, and its success. That is the only thing stopping me from expelling you this very moment."

Lucas opened one eye cautiously, looking at Mr. Yancy. His reading glasses were pushed up at the bridge of his nose, and he was eyeing a paper. His eyes squinted slightly as he read off the inked words. "There are three options we can ponder, Friar. One, you can get expelled, however we have pondered that option already. Two, you can quit the baseball team and divulge your whole time into studying and bring your grades up. Or three, you can recruit one of your fellow students to help tutor you."

Lucas opened his other eye and stared at Mr. Yancy, whose eyes were moving to read the words. "Option three," Lucas said firmly, as if he were repeating what Mr. Yancy said. "Is that the option where I _don't_ get expelled, I can stay on the baseball team, and I get my grades up?" he asked.

"Yes," Mr. Yancy confirmed, setting down the paper and clasping his hands once more. "I assumed you would pick this option so I have already picked a tutor out for you."

A knock came from behind Lucas, and his head whipped around. Mr. Yancy grumbled a gruff "come in" and the doorknob turned, the door swinging open in what seemed to be a dramatic matter, to Lucas.

"There he is," Mr. Yancy said, nodding his head. "Your tutor, Lucas."

His eyes widened. No way in _hell_ would he survive being tutored by... him. He loved him, he did. But not enough where he could stand hours on end of him rambling on.

"Farkle?!" Lucas screamed. No, nonononononono. No. With a capital N, and a lowercase n too if he stretched it. Nope. Nada. No.

"That's me!" he said cheekily. He ambled in haughtily. "I mean, I _am_ the smartest kid in the school. It only makes sense."

Lucas rubbed his eyes. "Farkle, I love you, but I can't deal with your...loud personality for more than an hour at a time." He turned his head back to Mr. Yancy with a pleading sort of look.

"Do you suggest any more suit options?" he asked him, his hands clasped on the desk. He was looking at him as if he were an incompetent child that needed pity. God, he hated that look, and it was looking much like how his father would look at him. And, if things were going in the way his mother was hoping, he was sure as hell gonna be his soon enough. "If Farkle is going to continue on the track I'm guessing he will, he'll have a 4.95 GPA by the end of senior year. I see no one more suitable."

"Charlie?" Lucas begged.

"Your romantic friend? He's got too many problems already, half of them being that he's strung up on some girl from five years ago. He'll be too distracted. Yes, his grades are good, but not on par like Farkle's."

Lucas craned his neck and rubbed it, thinking of someone. He loved Farkle, trust that he did, but sometimes Farkle had this tone, when you were wrong, and Lucas could _not_ deal with that more than once a month. "Zay," he suggested and Lucas knew that was a no with the look the principal gave him. "Billy?" No. "Um...Tyson?" No. "How about the librarian, Sandra!"

"Mr. Friar," Mr. Yancy eyed Lucas wearily. "You seem to be reaching, now. What is the phrase that you all say? Yes, you might pull a muscle. So I suggest you stop, because we have already made plans for you to be tutored by Mr. Minkus. I see no other student capable to tutor you. Mr. Minkus and I have thought about this for awhile."

Lucas turned around to glare at Farkle. "You knew about this? And you didn't think to tell me?"

Farkle threw his hands up in surrender. "I knew you'd not want to get tutored by me. I _am_ rigorous."

Lucas filed through a list of people one more time in his head and then...he had an idea. "Matt!" he exclaimed loudly. Mr. Yancy jumped back in surprise at the sudden exclaim of noise.

"Excuse me?"

"Matt," Lucas repeated, looking back at Farkle. "Matt would be a great tutor, yes? Yes, right. He's really good at art, he told me."

"Matt who?"

Lucas shook his head, his fingers trembling with excitement. How interesting it would be to be tutored by Matt. "Matt Hart—Matthew Hart, I mean. He came in two weeks ago, we're roommates."

Mr. Yancy filed through his papers and finally pulled up a pristine, white one. He squinted his eyes as if he were reading it carefully. "Ah, right. Mr. Matthew Hart, a transfer from Abigail Adams High. He transferred two weeks ago because he was recruited for his outstanding arts." He read a few more lines. "And he hasn't run away from you yet?"

Lucas prided himself. "Exactly. If Matt is able to live with me for a whole two weeks, I'm pretty sure he's capable of tutoring me, at least. We all know how it would be hellish for not only me if Farkle tutored me."

Mr. Yancy pushed up his glasses to the bridge of his nose, contemplating the option. "I'm not sure of his academics," he stated. "His records never officially sent to us from his previous school, which is quite odd. I'll get on that, now that I think about it. But that's not the point, other than the two weeks he's been here, we haven't seen much of his capability to learn, much less teach you."

"Oh come on!" Lucas groaned. "Give the boy a chance, won't you? If he doesn't seem capable in let's say—three weeks, then we'll go to Farkle."

"Two weeks," Mr. Yancy relented, eyeing him. "I barely know this student, Mr. Friar, I see no reason to appoint him as your tutor."

"Give him a chance."

Mr. Yancy sat still for a moment, eyeing the file he had in his hand, and then Lucas, and then Farkle, and then the file again. A few more moments passed before he spoke again. "Alright," he sighed. "I'll give this Matthew a chance. If he doesn't bring your grades up significantly in _two_ weeks, we'll move onto Farkle. And if Farkle isn't successful, there is no other choice but to expel you."

"Yes, sir, thank you," Lucas said giddily. Just the thought of getting tutored by Matt made him smile, it certainly would be interesting.

Mr. Yancy clicked a few buttons before coming over to the microphone on the left side of his desk. "Matthew Hart, please come to the principal's office. Immediately."

They waited a few minutes until the door finally opened, revealing the short blonde with a confused look his face. He looked at Farkle, then Mr. Yancy, and then Lucas and gave him a glare that could kill. "Did _your_ stupid ass get me in trouble?" he grumbled.

"I wouldn't give you the pleasure," Lucas smiled and Matt gave him a look, a small smile lacing his lips. He sat down next to Lucas, peering around the principal's office curiously.

"Why am I here?" he asked the one behind the desk with the glasses. "If I got in trouble, it wasn't me. And if you have proof, it was Lucas who was framing me. And Farkle set me up to it. And so did Zay."

"Woah woah!" Lucas laughed. "Where did all of that come from?" he joked.

He looked over at him with a glistening smile. "My defense just in case you set me up."

"Anyway," Mr. Yancy said curiously, breaking up their conversation. He was obviously confused over the fact that they were fighting, but smiling as well. Interesting. "Are you sure that _this_ is the one you want to tutor you, Mr Friar?"

With those words, Matt shot up from his chair in surprise. "Tutor?" he yelped.

"Yes, Mr. Hart. That's why I called you down here today to talk about tutoring accommodations, that's if you want to do it, of course."

The blonde one turned back to Farkle curiously, giving him a strange look. "Then why is Farkle here? I mean, surely he's more capable than me to tutor someone."

"I'm sure he is," Mr. Yancy said blankly. Ouch. "Matthew, please sit." Matt followed his orders and sat down wearily. "Lucas refuses to be tutored by his very smart, and capable friend, due to unknown reasons for me. If there is any underlying tension between the two, Lucas' academics are surely more important. But I digress, and that is not the point. Mr. Friar and I filed through a list of people suitable to tutor him, and you were the last name that popped out of his mouth."

"You're that desperate?" he asked Lucas incredulously, turning around in his chair to face him.

"I love Farkle," the taller one stated. "But not as a tutor."

"Back to where I was," Mr. Yancy focused the attention back on him. "Friar needs to get tutored by someone of outstanding caliber. Your records from your previous school has mysteriously not shown up, so I'm going on with your ability to manage him. Not everyone possesses this type of skill."

"Am I being forced?" the short one groaned.

Mr. Yancy eyed him carefully, his hands clasped together. "Of course not, Hart. However, you will surely be rewarded for the good deeds you have done. I'd like you to know that if Lucas is unable to bring his grades up, he will be expelled."

"Expelled," Matt whistled. He thought for a moment to himself, as if he were taking everything in. "Expulsion is a big thing, Mr. Yancy. Wouldn't you like to save that privilege for someone more... deserving?"

"Deserving is a big word, and if anyone in this room deserves it, it would be Friar. Are you suggesting someone else in this room deserves it?" The air grew silent for a moment and Matt shivered in his seat.

"Of course not."

Mr. Yancy then sighed. "Yes, expulsion is a big step and that is why I am not taking it. Tutoring is the best option right now, I need you to understand. I know that you must have to strong feelings towards Friar—more towards dislike. But pull out those other feelings for him, the stuff like tolerance and think about what's best for him and this school."

Matt peered at his bitten nails, and Lucas could almost hear his head whirring with thought. After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke up. "I'll do it," and Lucas almost cheered. "But I have never tutored in my life, so don't expect the best from me."

"Tolerance is all I'm asking, Matthew. Thank you."

Matt then turned around to face Lucas and gave him a glare filled with heat. Lucas noticed how hard it was to take him seriously, with his porcelain and pristine features. He also seemed to smell distinctly like cherry. Which was odd, since he shouldn't be smelling him in the first place.

"All right," Matt groaned loudly, throwing his head back on the chair. "I'll do it."

Lucas smiled widely at the thought. How interesting it would be.

* * *

 **this chapter changes the plot drastically because now lucas and mattya have to spend time together. which is good. and lucas is going to find out soon so heads up for that**

 **there was also some foreshadowing if u can find it**

 **review and fave!**


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